DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Russian-speaking clerks sit idle in the dozens of shops that line Dubai's Deira fur market, waiting for someone to come in and look at the racks stuffed with mink, sable and ermine coats. This was supposed to be the busiest time of the year.
"We knew the storm was coming, but we didn't realize how strong it would be," said George, a shopkeeper who says sales have dropped by about 70 percent this year. The store hasn't sold any coats at the top price of $100,000 after several were bought in 2013, he said, asking that his last name not be used to avoid helping his competitors.
The Russians aren't coming and that means pain for the retail, tourism and real estate markets that underpin Dubai's foreigner-driven economy. Russia's economic turmoil means Dubai is losing one of its biggest sources of customers at a time when such factors as falling oil prices and mortgage-lending restrictions are already putting pressure on those markets.
"With the ruble's decline, a property that would have cost $1 million now costs $2 million," said Anna Kochetulim, a Dubai-based property broker. Her firm, which mainly caters to Russians, saw business shrink by 90 percent over the past several months.
The ruble dropped 38 percent against the dollar since the beginning of June as oil prices reached a five-year low. That made foreign goods and travel abroad twice as expensive for those who are paid in rubles. The United Arab Emirates' dirham is pegged to the dollar.
Russian visitors to Dubai typically surge toward the end of the year and into early January, when many take their longest holidays. The country's economic turmoil deepened in December as oil slumped and the ruble's drop accelerated.
Retailers in Dubai are feeling the decline. Spending by Russian tourists dropped by about 10 percent this year, according to Nikola Kosutic, research manager at Euromonitor.
"They are big spenders. They buy luxury goods, which are significantly cheaper in the UAE than in Moscow or St. Petersburg," Kosutic said. Some retailers "won't feel a thing, while others will have a devastating decline in sales."
