The metaverse takes centre stage

Welcome to the end of the week.

We’ve headed into the virtual world this week, helping unpack the ongoing story and developing landscape of the metaverse.

UAE authorities have already announced some sweeping developments this month, with Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority establishing its HQ in the metaverse, and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum launching the higher committee to develop the Dubai Metaverse Strategy.

Experts have previously pointed to the “amazing potential” that the MENA region has as a hub for metaverse business, but we are already starting to see the region’s forward-thinking approach begin to pay dividends.

This week, one company, Everdome, began auctioning 12,000 plots of land in its metaverse, giving investors the unique opportunity to own a piece of a virtual Mars landscape, demonstrating that travel, in particular, is one industry ripe for metaverse disruption.

Aside from personal travel, corporate travel could become a relic of the past. The metaverse will enable companies to set up virtual meeting rooms that could be entered by simply donning a VR-headset. We will be keeping a close eye on how these efforts continue to progress.

The team has pulled together an exclusive guide on all things metaverse to help dissect all of these recent developments and more, exclusively for our subscribers. Feel free to check it out here.

Separately, this week also saw big news come out about the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Five airlines came together only yesterday to announce that they would begin a period of unprecedented collaboration to create a shuttle service for World Cup ticket holders. This strategy, perhaps aimed at solving two key problems facing the mega-event – high flight ticket prices and accommodation scarcity – should prove welcome news for fans worried about making it to the event. Already we've seen prices fall by as much as two-thirds, but keep an eye on Arabian Business as we stay ahead any further developments.