Online shopping sparkles for retailers
"Online shopping really arrived last year," said James Roper, chief executive of the Interactive Media in Retail Group, the industry body for the UK's e-tailers.
"Consumers have given the retail sector a clear message that the internet is a primary way that they want to shop. This is a bit of a wake-up call to traditional retailers."
Figures released by the IMRG today show a 50 per cent increase in spending in the 10 weeks to Christmas, the fastest rate to date for online sales.
Internet sales are now estimated to account for9 per cent of all UK retail spending.
This is almost double the 5 per cent market share that catalogue shopping has traditionally commanded and is a strong indicator thate-tailers are winning sales away from the high street.
Strong sales growth at Play.com, the online entertainment retailer, and the UK arm of Amazon - which said trading was up 20 per cent from last year - was in sharp contrast with a fall in sales at high-street music retailer HMV and the Ottakar's book shop chain.
Retailers with a combined internet and high street offering fared better. John Lewis reported a 76 per cent year-on-year increase in sales in November and December, aided by a 60 per cent increase in visits tothe johnlewis.com website. The website took more than ￡100m in sales over the year, boosted by sales of Apple's iPod music player. Argos reported a 37 per cent increase in internet sales, contributing 6 per cent to overall revenue.
Tesco, the supermarket chain, said its online business had a record year, delivering more than 1m orders in the four weeks to Christmas, while J Sainsbury said its internet home delivery service grew 28 per cent last year. Boots, the health and beauty retailer, said internet sales were up 44 per cent in the third quarter, while Carphone Warehouse reported a 40 per cent increase in online revenues.
Many industry observers put the growth of online shopping down to the rapid take-up of broadband internet lines.
According to figures from Point Topic, the broadband research company, the number of lines grew by about 60 per cent to 9.8m at the end of 2005, giving the country the highest number of broadband lines in western Europe.
More than 66 per cent of homes have an internet connection, according to figures from Ofcom, the telecommunications regulator, and Point Topic estimates that more than 37 per cent of homes have broadband.
However, they also believe that shoppers have simply become more comfortable with using the internet for purchases and are finding it easier to use increasingly sophisticated online stores.
Stuart Rowe, managing director of Play.com, said: "People are finding the experience of online shopping more comfortable now broadband is so much faster. You can easily check prices and the websites are getting very good. Internet retailers are taking customer service very seriously and going that extra mile to give shoppers comfort."
Play.com, for example, included a customer service helpline number on its site for the first time this year.
Christmas internet sales continued to be dominated by consumer electronics, which accounted for around 13 per cent of internet sales.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 games console, which was launched just before Christmas but was difficult to find on the high street because of delivery shortages, was one of the most searched-for items, according to Kelkoo, the price comparison site.
Sony's PlayStation Portable was in high demand. One retailer listed on Kelkoo was reported to have sold its stock of 300 PSP consoles in just 10 minutes.
"People were using the internet to search for things that were difficult to find on the high street," said Glen Drury, managing director of Kelkoo.
However, many internet retailers reported a broadening of focus, with online shoppers branching out to goods such as clothing and drinks as well as electronic gadgets. Online sales of clothing, footwear and accessories rose 24 per cent in 2005 and now account for more than 7 per cent of online transactions by value.
Meanwhile, sales of beer, wine and spirits, rose 26 per cent to ￡218m.
The peak for pre-Christmas internet sales came in the week commencing December 5, when ￡653m was spent online.
英国消费者热衷网上购物
去年圣诞节，英国网上购物增速最快。在圣诞节前10周里，购物者在网上支出近50亿英镑，使英国人成为欧洲最热衷网上购物的消费者。
这比2004年的圣诞消费增长了近50%，2004年金额达33.3亿英镑。现在，网上购物占零售支出总额的约9%，即每11英镑就有1英镑用在网上购物上。
英国互动媒体零售集团(Interactive Media in Retail Group)是电子零售商的行业组织，该组织今天公布的数据显示，有约2400万人在网上购买了圣诞礼物，人均消费额达208英镑。网上购物的迅速增长与整体零售业的不景气形成对比，相比之下，零售业去年12月的同比销售额仅增长2.6%，11月时增长了0.8%。
(back)Tokyo's Bulls Stay in the Ring
For many global investors, this week's shakeout in the Tokyo stock market was almost welcome.
A rush of sell orders forced the Tokyo Stock Exchange to shorten its sessions Wednesday and yesterday. This mass selling, sparked by scandal surrounding the Japanese Internet company Livedoor, sent the blue-chip Nikkei Stock Average skidding nearly 7% in three days, though there was a partial rebound yesterday that continued early Friday, Tokyo time.
Japan's bears seized on these events as an early sign that the market was due for another painful correction. But the Nikkei's 2.3% gain yesterday was testimony to what many international fund managers think: Tokyo remains the most attractive of the developed world's stock markets. After last year's 40% stock-market gain, these investors say, the market is due for a consolidation period -- not major decline -- and that once prices come down a bit, they will be right back in.
Some money managers thought this week's selloff offered enough of an opening. "This really has nothing to do with positive things going on in Japan," says Chip Perrone, senior international equity analyst at DuPont Capital Management in Wilmington, Del. He says his firm bought shares in Japanese consumer-electronics companies Wednesday. The technological glitch that closed the market early "doesn't affect the fundamentals of these companies," he says.
Kathy Matsui, Goldman Sachs chief strategist in Japan, sent out a client note yesterday arguing that these corporate fundamentals remain in place and that the market experienced a "healthy correction."
This confidence in Japanese stocks among market professionals offers a sharp contrast to the other major participants in the Tokyo market last year: day traders. The big rally attracted an army of young, computer-savvy individual investors who bet on the upstart technology companies that were listed on Tokyo's Mothers Index and who may be too shell-shocked by this week's meltdown to return soon.
While the Nikkei is still less than half its peak level of 1989, the Mothers Index -- the market of high-growth and emerging stocks -- hit an all-time high Monday before crashing 22% in the two days following news that Livedoor may have concealed massive losses.
Among those down on Japan is Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, N.Y. He says Tokyo looks like a stock-market bubble. "One may properly wonder if the bubble is now bursting," he wrote in a client report this week.
Despite Japan's cleanup of nonperforming loans, Mr. Weinberg worries that the national debt is getting precariously high at 170% of gross domestic product -- and rising. If the government fails to rein in this debt, he writes, "debt service will crowd out all other economic activity. Prosperity will atrophy." He predicts that as foreign investors begin to lose faith in the economic recovery, the Nikkei will suffer more of a sickly than healthy correction.
Many other economists, however, tend to back the case for a longer-term market rally. They say that Japanese companies, and in particular the banks, are in better shape than they have been for years. Colin Asher, an economist at Nomura Securities in London, says companies have large cash positions that are leading to wage increases and the hiring of full-time workers, rather than part-time employees. In turn, these actions are boosting consumer sentiment, he says.
At the same time, bullish sentiment toward the yen makes investing in Japan an easy call, some say. If the yen rallies, any returns in Japanese stocks are enhanced when translated back into dollars. With the dollar rising 15% against the yen in 2005, currency analysts see the trend reversing by the second half of this year. Citigroup and UBS, for instance, forecast the dollar to be around 100 yen a year from now, about a 13% decline for the U.S. currency from current levels.
The latest Merrill Lynch survey of global fund managers shows nearly two of every three believe the yen is undervalued. In terms of sentiment favoring a particular currency, "we haven't seen anything like that before" in the survey, says David Bowers, chief global investment strategist at Merrill Lynch.
Carlos Asilis, a portfolio manager for the hedge fund Vega Plus Capital Partners, thinks Japanese stocks will outperform those in the U.S. and Europe this year. He says that, with Japan's economy likely to accelerate in 2006, there is a greater chance for positive earnings surprises in Tokyo.
While 2005 was a record year for foreign net purchases of Japanese stocks, Mr. Asilis expects that domestic investors could play a more prominent role this year and the years after that. Although this week's volatility hit individual day traders particularly hard, he thinks Japanese institutional investors and households will turn more positive on the stock market as they begin to believe in the economic recovery.
In San Diego, Vincent Willyard says he already is thinking about re-entering the Tokyo market. The fund manager for Nicholas Applegate Capital Management watched from the sidelines this week but is betting that after a retreat of 10% or so, Japanese stocks will have another positive year. "There is a re-rating story going on because of Japan's structural improvements," he says.
As a way to play a Japanese economic rebound, he likes consumer-oriented companies like electronics retailer Yamada Denki Co. He also is bullish on industrial companies like Komatsu, a maker of heavy machinery such as tractors and bulldozers.
东京股市仍为众多投资者所看好
对许多全球投资者来说，本周东京股市的动荡是件令人高兴的事情。
大量卖单导致东京股市周三和周四连续两天缩短了交易时间。受日本网络公司活力门(Livedoor)丑闻的打击，日经平均指数在三个交易日里下跌了近7%，但周四和东京时间周五早盘日本股市有所反弹。
看跌日本股市的投资者将此视为市场将再次回调的先兆。但日经指数周四上涨2.3%证实了许多国际基金经理的想法：东京股市仍然是发达国家股市中最具吸引力的一个。这些投资者表示，在日本股市去年上涨了40%之后，市场需要一个盘整时期，但不是大幅下跌，一旦价格有所回调，很快就会再度上扬。
部分基金经理认为，本周的下跌带来了难得的机会。特拉华州DuPont Capital Management的高级国际股票分析师奇普?佩罗内(Chip Perrone)说，日本市场的良好表现不会受到任何影响。他表示，他的机构周三买进了日本消费电子产品公司的股票。他还说，导致提前休市的技术问题不会影响这些公司的基本面。
高盛(Goldman Sachs)驻日本首席策略师Kathy Matsui在周四发给客户的报告中表示，这些公司的基本面并无变化，市场经历了“良性的调整。”
市场专业人士对日本股市的信心同去年日本股市的主要参与者：短线交易员形成了鲜明对比。日本股市大幅的上扬曾吸引了众多熟悉电脑的年轻个人投资者，他们将资金投向在东京创业板市场上市的新兴科技公司。本周这样的大起大落下挫可能对他们造成严重冲击，短期内也许不会重回市场。
尽管日经指数仍不到1989年高点的一半，但创业板指数本周一创出了历史高点，但其后两个交易日因活力门隐瞒巨额亏损的丑闻而暴跌22%。
纽约州High Frequency Economics的首席经济学家卡尔?韦恩伯格(Carl Weinberg)是看跌日本股市的人之一。他说东京股市已经出现了泡沫。韦恩伯格在本周发给客户的研究报告中写道，人们有理由怀疑泡沫是否正在破裂。
尽管日本清理了不良贷款，韦恩伯格仍对日本债务总额已经达到国内生产总值的170%、并还在继续增加表示担忧。他写道，如果政府无法控制这些债务，债务将给其他所有经济活动带来不利影响。繁荣局面就被断送。他预计，随著海外投资者开始对日本经济复苏丧失信心，日经指数的跌幅将超过良性的调整。
不过，许多经济学家支持市场将会中长期反弹的观点。他们认为，日本经济，尤其是银行的状况要好于前些年。野村证券公司(Nomura Securities)的经济学家科林?阿谢尔(Colin Asher)说，拥有大量现金的公司会给员工加薪，聘用全职员工而不是兼职人员。这又会反过来提高消费者信心。
部分分析师还表示，市场看涨日圆也使得投资日本股市深具吸引力。如果日圆上涨，投资日本股市的收益在兑换成美元后会得到提升。外汇分析师认为，美元兑日圆汇率在2005年上涨了15%，这一趋势将在今年下半年出现反转。比如，花旗(Citigroup)和瑞银(UBS)预计，美元兑日圆汇率将在12个月内达到100日圆左右，较目前水平下跌约13%。
美林(Merrill Lynch)对全球基金经理的最新调查显示，有接近三分之二的人认为日圆被低估。美林首席全球投资策略师大卫?鲍尔斯(David Bowers)说，就看好某种货币的人气而言，在以前的调查中还从未发现类似情况。
对冲基金Vega Plus Capital Partners的投资组合经理卡洛斯?阿西历斯(Carlos Asilis)认为，日本股市今年的表现将会超过美国和欧洲股市。他说，随著日本经济2006年可能加速增长，在东京股市上市的日本公司业绩令人惊喜的可能性很大。
尽管2005年海外净购买日本股票的数量创出新高，但阿西历斯预计，今年以及此后几年里国内投资者将发挥更显著的作用。虽然本周的动荡对个别短线交易员的打击尤其惨重，但他认为由于日本机构投资者和家庭开始相信经济正在走向复苏，他们会对股市持更为积极的态度。
圣地牙哥的文森特?威尔亚德(Vincent Willyard)表示，他正在考虑重返东京股市。这位Nicholas Applegate Capital Management的基金经理本周一直持观望立场，但他认为在回调10%左右后，日本股市今年仍将上涨。他说，由于日本的结构化改善，东京股市会再上一层楼。
为了搭上日本经济复苏的快车，他认为应选择面向消费者的公司，如零售商Yamada Denki Co.。他还看好小松(Komatsu)这样的工业公司。小松主要制造拖拉机和推土机等重型机械。
(back)Dollar Drops on News From Iran, Rising Oil Prices, Falling Stocks
Laurence Norman The dollar fell Friday, pushing lower initially on news from Iran that it plans to pull its foreign exchange reserves from European banks, then extending the move late in the day amid rising oil prices and a sharp drop in U.S. stocks.
Still, most analysts said that the dollar remains confined in the middle of a tight range. Trading has been choppy, and many speculative investors are getting frustrated waiting for the dollar to break the ranges.
The situation has been typified by the tight confines in which the euro has traded since the beginning of January, roughly between $1.20 and $1.22. Friday, traders made attempts to break out on both sides of that range, with the euro trading as low as $1.214 overnight and as high as $1.2141 late in the session, according to EBS.
Among the biggest gainers versus the dollar Friday was the pound. The move started after the U.K. reported stronger-than-expected December retail sales. Some suggested the data might help dissuade the Bank of England from cutting interest rates when it meets in February.
The dollar also fell against the Swiss franc, which was helped by escalating tensions over Iran's nuclear program, which added to the general risk aversion among investors.
In late New York trading, the euro was at $1.2137, up from $1.2097 late Thursday. The dollar was at 1.2763 Swiss francs from 1.2840 Swiss francs, and at 115.26 yen, down from 115.43 yen. The pound climbed to $1.7712 from $1.7585. The euro was at 139.89 yen from 139.63 yen.
As often happens, rising oil prices also hit the yen, capping its gains because the market has traditionally perceived Japan to be most vulnerable to higher energy costs. U.S. stocks, however, were also a victim of rising crude.
"Oil prices have continued to move higher and equities have apparently taken it badly," said Daniel Katzive, foreign exchange strategist at UBS in Stamford, Conn.
Mr. Katzive said the overarching theme was that rising oil prices, falling stocks and heightened global political tensions were increasing the attraction of what he called the "safety" currencies, in particular the euro and the Swiss franc.
Mr. Katzive said investors were particularly jittery after a sharp decline in Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index earlier in the week turned the focus on a rise in global risk aversion.
David Durrant, chief strategist for fixed income at Julius Baer investment management in New York, said the move may have been exaggerated by the "Friday afternoon" effect when low volumes and position adjusting ahead of the weekend can easily add to market choppiness.
Meanwhile, Sweden's Riksbank kicked off its monetary tightening cycle Friday, increasing interest rates by a quarter percentage point to 1.75%, which helped lift the Swedish krona in trading against the euro and dollar Friday.
美元走软，受油价、伊朗和股市诸因素拖累
纽约汇市周五美元走软，最初是受到有关伊朗准备将外汇储备撤离欧洲银行的消息打击，但之后的跌势则应该主要归咎于油价的攀升和美国股市的大幅下挫。
不过大部分分析师仍然认为美元将会维持窄幅波动态势。美元在今日市场中起伏较大，许多投机商在等待美元突破波动区间时感到失望。
这种情况自1月初欧元兑美元汇率波动范围形成于1.20-1.22美元的狭窄区间以来就变得很典型。周五，交易员们曾试图突破上述区间的两端，欧元前夜曾下探至1.2140美元的低点，而尾盘时达到的盘中高点仅为1.2141美元，据EBS数据显示。
美元在纽约汇市周五后市走低是由美国股市的大幅下跌以及油价飙升所引发。道琼斯工业股票平均价格指数下跌超过210点，一举抹去了该指数自年初以来积累的涨幅。与此同时，近月交割的原油期货合约又重新站上每桶68美元以上的高位，接近历史高点，并再次引发市场对其可能造成的经济影响的担忧。
周五兑美元涨幅最大的是英镑。英镑的上涨始于英国政府公布强于预期的12月份零售额之后。一些分析人士认为这一数据可能有助于英国央行(Bank of England)打消在2月份政策会议上降息的念头。
此外，美元兑瑞士法郎亦走软，主要是受到伊朗核问题再度趋于紧张的影响。分析师称，伊朗当局的声明刺激了市场上避险投资的增加，从而促使瑞士法郎兑各主要货币全线走强。
伊朗央行周五表示，该行正在将外汇储备转移出欧洲的银行，以防因核问题而遭到联合国制裁。伊朗央行行长Ebrahim Sheibani告诉记者称，伊朗已开始从欧洲银行撤出外汇储备，并将资金转移至匿名地点，据伊朗半官方的Iranian Students News Agency报导。
纽约汇市尾盘，欧元兑1.2137美元，高于周四尾盘的1.2097美元。美元兑1.2760瑞士法郎，低于周四的1.2840瑞士法郎；美元兑115.26日圆，低于周四尾盘的115.43日圆。英镑兑美元则从周四尾盘的1.7585美元升至1.7710美元；欧元兑139.92日圆，高于周四的139.63日圆。
如往常那样，油价上涨还打击了日圆，抑制了日圆的涨势，因为市场通常认为日本最容易受到能源成本上升的打击。然而，美国股市也是原油价格上涨的受害者。
瑞银(UBS)驻斯坦福的外汇策略师Daniel Katzive称，油价继续上涨，而股市显然受到严重打击。
Katzive称，市场主要话题是油价上涨、股价下跌以及全球政治紧张局势提高了被他称为“安全”货币的吸引力，尤其是欧元和瑞士法郎。
Katzive称，在基准日经225指数本周早些时候大幅下跌之后投资者尤为不安，使得市场焦点转向全球避险需求上升。
Julius Baer资产管理公司驻纽约的首席固定收益策略师David Durrant称，市场的波动可能因“周五下午”效应而被夸大，“周五下午”效应是指周末前的成交低迷和头寸调整趋势很容易加大市场的波动。
前夜，一些重要事件没有给市场带来太大影响。
这些事件包括，日本央行(Bank of Japan)上调了对经济的评估，以及该行认为消费者价格将继续上涨，这表明该行向取消极度宽松的货币政策更进了一步。
日本央行在月度经济报告中称，日本经济在稳步复苏，并对12月份评估加上了“稳步”这一措辞，这是该行自去年9月份以来首次在月度经济报告中上调经济评估。
这也是自20世纪90年度初经济泡沫破灭以来，日本央行首次用“稳步”来描述日本经济状况，并表明，该行对产出、薪酬以及个人支出上升的信心提高。
(back)For Oil-Rich Brides, Caviar, Crystal, And 1,000 Guests
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- When Noor Al-Roomi planned her son's recent wedding, she knew she was up against tough competition from many other big weddings. "Everyone wants to hold a more impressive wedding than the family before," says Ms. Al-Roomi.
She managed to hold her own. Arrangements included bringing in Beluga caviar from the Caspian, tablecloths from Switzerland, a cake chef from France and flowers from Holland. Guests received as favors gold-rimmed crystal bowls filled with Belgian chocolates. "You don't want to have anything that is easily found on the local market. It has to be exclusive," she explains. The groom's family spent $250,000 on the six-hour affair.
The Al-Roomi nuptials are part of a wedding industry that is resurgent in the Persian Gulf economic boom fed by higher oil prices.
When oil prices fell in the 1980s and 1990s, fewer families in the region could spring for the extravagant weddings their social set had come to expect. Unable to shoulder the cost of a properly ostentatious wedding, couples put off marrying.
The average number of marriages in the United Arab Emirates dropped by one-quarter between the mid-1980s and the end of the 1990s. In Kuwait, the number fell about 15% in that same period, as it did in Bahrain, according to the Central Statistics Organization.
Given the rapidly growing populations and the increasing number of men and women reaching "marriageable age," which generally means the early 20s, Persian Gulf rulers became concerned that lower marriage rates could eventually translate into slower population growth. Some rulers, who are essentially the heads of large extended families, worried that more of their young men would marry foreigners in order to forgo fancy weddings and save money.
In the UAE, the late president Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan set up a marriage fund, offering grants to male citizens to encourage them to marry local women. "In the '90s, a growing number of UAE women were remaining unmarried," fretted an official UAE report on social development. Established in 1994, the fund offered grants of about $20,000 to help young men meet wedding costs. The sheik himself then footed the bill for group ceremonies in which dozens of young couples would marry. Because the government viewed extravagant weddings as a deterrent to men marrying local women, it announced that families holding such events would be subject to fines of up to $136,000 or even prison sentences. But it is unclear whether any cases have ever been brought, and it appears today that the threat has not curbed lavish weddings.
Times have changed with the price of oil. UAE officials say marriage rates have climbed steadily since 2003. The past two years have seen 20% annual increases in marriages. Meanwhile, mass weddings have tailed off since their peak in 1999.
Wedding planners are now putting on the dog. "I have mothers coming to me requesting a particular crystal glass that they saw at a royal ball in London. Or they want a design for a gift box that no one would have ever seen before. Or they want edible-gold-coated almonds," says wedding planner Dina Al-Rashad, who is based in Kuwait.
For Ms. Al-Rashad this has meant traveling the globe looking for the perfect glass, or fork, or ribbon or party favor.
The wedding celebration for Hissa Khalaf, a 24-year-old bride from a wealthy family, played out over three days recently in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. On the first evening there was a henna party -- a sort of bridal shower. More than 300 girls gathered in a ballroom to dance, dine and have their bodies decorated with temporary henna tattoos expertly placed by a team of Sudanese henna artists flown in from Egypt, according to Hala Al-Abbar, a cousin of the bride. Guests took home finely engraved silver boxes, she says.
The following day, close to 800 guests gathered at a sprawling beach mansion for a party that lasted from noon until well past midnight. The bride changed her outfit just about every hour, and the buffet, which spanned 25 tables, was changed five times, says Ms. Al-Abbar. Guests received gold coins as souvenirs. "They spent as much on that day as most couples spend on a wedding night. More," says Ms. Al-Abbar.
The main event on the following night had about 1,000 guests -- about 1,400 had been invited -- filling the mansion and its grounds.
The groom was carried in on a litter by men in turbans. The bride followed on her own more delicate gold throne, artificial smoke rising from below to give her an ethereal appearance. From above, glitter rained down on her while guests tossed gold coins and turquoise stones, provided on tables as good-luck omens. That night's party favor: a cut-crystal box filled with almonds and containing a large gold coin embossed with the couple's names and a Sura, or verse, from the Quran.
For the wedding party, a European orchestra and a disc jockey from Spain were flown in. Other weddings have featured Egyptian pop stars, at up to $40,000 for brief appearances. For a traditional touch, sprawling Arabian desert affairs are held in tents that rent for as much as about $25,000.
Hoteliers say the ceremonies are their most reliable business, and now bring in at least half of annual catering revenue for resorts such as the Ritz-Carlton, Dubai, according to officials at the hotel.
The London-based Diamond Trading Co. recently set up shop in Dubai, and a chunk of its business comes from weddings. "Arab nationals are passionate about diamonds, and the boom makes this the fourth largest market in the world," says Nicholas Graham-Smith, DTC's regional director. "The UAE is at the forefront of it all."
While the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs says the percentage of local men marrying foreigners has dropped, rulers still have qualms about the lavish affairs. They've asked locals to curb spending. Parents, too, are worrying. In the poorer and more conservative neighboring Emirate of Fujairah, the Parents Council of a local school recently urged the Marriage Fund to continue to support mass weddings and to enforce penalties against those who fritter away their money.
"This spending trend will make young men feel they can't get married to locals, which will mean they'll marry foreigners, which we know leads to divorce. Or they'll marry an Emirati and end up in very large debt," says Maryam Eissa, the mother of four young children. Fujairah's Sheik Abdullah Al-Sharqi has asked the Marriage Fund to take measures to reverse the trend.
奢华婚宴重现波斯湾
Noor Al-Roomi为儿子筹办最近这次婚礼的时候，就知道自己要同几场大型婚礼展开激烈竞争了。“每个人都希望自己的婚礼能给人留下深刻的印象，超过家里以前操办的任何一场，”她说。
她还是设法筹办了一场盛大的婚礼：Beluga鱼子酱从里海运来、桌布来自瑞士、从法国聘请了专做蛋糕的大厨、鲜花来自荷兰。宾客们捧著镶金边的水晶碗，里面盛满了比利时巧克力。“才不会用当地就能买到的东西呢，用具必须独一无二，”她解释说。新郎的家族为这场持续了6个小时的盛宴花费了250,000美元。
Al-Roomi家的这场婚宴只是整个波斯湾方兴未艾的婚礼产业的一小部分。随著油价的节节攀升，波斯湾经济也开始蓬勃发展，婚礼也不例外。
八、九十年代油价下滑之际，波斯湾地区几乎没有哪个家族能筹备得起符合他们社会地位的婚礼。难以负担的豪华婚礼费用迫使很多年轻人推迟结婚。
Central Statistics Organization的数据显示，八十年代中期到九十年代末，阿拉伯联合酋长国的结婚人数减少了四分之一，科威特和巴林各减少了约15%。
随著人口数量的激增，达到适婚年龄的男男女女也越来越多。波斯湾各国各部落的掌权者开始担心，低结婚率会最终演变成低人口增长率。有些掌权的人本来就是一个庞大家族的首领，他们担心自己家族中的年轻男子会越来越多地赢取外国女人，以逃避奢华的婚礼，好节省钱财。
阿联酋总统哈利法?本?扎耶德?阿勒纳哈扬(Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan)设立了一个婚姻基金，鼓励男性公民迎娶本国女性。“90年代，未婚的阿联酋女性日渐增多，”一份调查社会发展形势的官方报告称。这项基金成立于1994年，申请人可以得到大约20,000美元的婚礼赞助。总统还自掏腰包赞助了不少集体婚礼。因为政府认为豪华婚礼是阻止本国男女青年成婚的障碍，就宣布大操大办的家庭会被处以最高136,000美元的罚款，甚至被判入狱。但是，现在还不清楚有没有人因此被起诉，而且就眼下的形势来看，这种威胁并没有阻止豪华婚礼的上演。
油价的变动带来了时代的变迁。阿联酋官员表示，2003年以来该国结婚率稳步攀升，最近这两年的年增幅甚至高达20%。此外，集体婚礼的热潮从1999年以后就逐渐消退了。
科威特的婚礼策划师Dina Al-Rashad说，“不断有新人的妈妈来找我，要我帮忙找到一种他们在伦敦皇家舞会上看到的别致的水晶杯，要一款从没见过的专门设计的礼品盒，要可食用的镀金杏仁……”
对Al-Rashad来说，这就意味著走遍世界，去寻找称心如意的杯子、叉子、彩带，等等。
24岁的新娘Hissa Khalaf出身豪门，她的婚礼在阿拉伯联合酋长国的阿布扎比总共进行了三天。第一天晚上举行的是指甲花派对(henna party)──类似于新娘送礼派对。300多名女孩子在舞池中跳舞、用餐，专业纹身师用指甲花在她们的身体上纹出可擦洗的图案，新娘的堂姐妹Hala Al-Abbar说，这些纹身师是专门从埃及请来的。宾客们都获得了雕刻精美的银制礼盒。
第二天，近800名客人在连排沙滩别墅中从中午狂欢到午夜。Al-Abbar说，新娘的服装几乎每小时换一次，摆满25张桌子的自助餐共撤换了五次。宾客们收到了金币作为纪念。Al-Abbar说，“他们当天的花费相当于大多数新人结婚当晚的花销，甚至更多。”
在接下来的那个夜晚举行的主要活动中，近1,000名客人把别墅内外挤得满满的──他们共邀请了1,400名客人。
新郎戴著包头巾坐轿进来了，新娘紧随其后，乘坐著更精美的金色座椅，人们点起的缕缕青烟从她的背后升腾起来，这样看起来她像是仙女下凡。从上方落下了亮闪闪的喷雪，而来宾则向新娘投掷象征好运的金币和绿宝石。晚会的礼物是：一个水晶盒子，里面装满杏仁，还有一枚写有新人名字和可兰经中诗句的大金币。
欧洲管弦乐队和来自西班牙的DJ在婚礼派对上大显身手。有的婚礼还曾邀请埃及流行明星助阵，他们的出场费最高达4万美元。如果想有个传统婚礼，那么可以租帐篷在广袤的阿拉伯沙漠上举行派对，帐篷的租金高达25,000美元。
饭店的经营者表示，婚礼是他们最可靠的业务来源，对于迪拜等度假胜地来说，婚礼至少可以占到他们餐饮业年收入的一半。
伦敦的Diamond Trading Co.最近在迪拜开设了店铺，业务大部分也来自结婚典礼。公司地区负责人Nicholas Graham-Smith说，“阿拉伯人对钻石情有独锺，这个市场的繁荣使它成为了世界上第四大的钻石市场。阿拉伯联合酋长国又是阿拉伯国家中最爱钻石的。”
虽然劳动和社会事务部(Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs)表示，当地男性与外国女性结婚的情况减少了，但当局仍然对婚礼的奢侈忧心忡忡。他们要求当地人节俭开支。新人的父母也不无担心。在稍显贫穷和保守的近邻富查伊拉，最近当地学校的家长委员会要求结婚基金会(Marriage Fund)继续扶持集体婚礼并对那些浪费钱财的新人予以惩罚。
四个孩子的母亲Maryam Eissa说，“这种消费潮流会让年轻男子不敢娶当地女子，也就是说他们会和外国人结婚，而这意味著离婚。或者他们会负债累累地娶个当地女子。富查伊拉的酋长Abdullah Al-Sharqi已经要求结婚基金会采取措施改变这种潮流。
