Introducing British Aromatherapy and Wellness Essentials to Dubai

A British essential oils brand gets a message from a five-star spa group in Dubai. They love the range. They want to stock it across three properties. Two emails later, the questions shift: Can you invoice in AED? Are your products registered under ECAS? Do you have a UAE trade license?

The formulations weren’t the problem. The business structure was.

This is becoming a familiar sequence for British wellness founders. Dubai’s demand for aromatherapy is real, growing, and commercially structured — but the market buys from businesses that are locally set up to sell. Not from overseas suppliers who need weeks to figure out how to get paid.

The UAE aromatherapy market is forecast at USD 19.94 million in 2025, sitting within a Middle East aromatherapy sector valued at approximately USD 330 million. Globally, the aromatherapy market hit USD 9.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 20.1 billion by 2034. This isn’t a trend. It’s an established and expanding category — and British brands are well positioned to compete in it, provided the commercial setup matches the product.

Why Dubai Is Buying Aromatherapy — and Why British Brands Fit

Dubai’s aromatherapy demand is not niche. It’s embedded in hospitality, medical wellness, and consumer retail — three sectors that are scaling simultaneously.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia collectively operated over 650 wellness resorts and spa clinics in 2023, with 75% featuring aromatherapy on their treatment menus. UAE wellness tourism revenue surged by 18% in 2025, and the country unveiled the USD 545 million Therme Dubai resort in 2024 — a facility built specifically around holistic and therapeutic experiences.

On the hospitality side, brands are integrating aromatherapy into the core guest experience. Young Living partnered with luxury hotel chains in Dubai in June 2023 to incorporate essential oil-infused amenities into guest rooms. High-end resorts like Talise Spa Dubai and Anantara Spa already feature aromatherapy across their treatment offerings.

Retail follows the same pattern. Online portals like Namshi and Carrefour UAE, alongside concept boutiques like The Fragrance Kitchen, are recording double-digit sales growth in essential oil products. E-commerce is playing an increasingly central role in distribution, which matters for UK brands with existing direct-to-consumer infrastructure.

Where does British identity fit? The UAE market places weight on provenance and formulation quality. Lavender, frankincense, oud, and sandalwood lead therapeutic applications due to cultural resonance, but buyers also look for clinical credibility — evidence-based blending, organic certification, and transparent sourcing. British aromatherapy brands built on IFPA standards, organic accreditation, or clinical-grade formulations have a positioning advantage that generic international suppliers don’t.

The gap isn’t awareness. It’s access.

What the UAE’s Regulatory Shift Means for British Aromatherapy Brands

The regulatory environment is tightening — and in a way that actually favours established, standards-driven brands.

In 2023, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention released a pilot programme adding aromatherapy and reflexology to alternative medicine licensing. The same year, Cabinet Decision No. 10 of 2022 was implemented, placing aromatherapy products under the mandatory Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme (ECAS). Essential oil products entering the UAE now face formal compliance requirements around safety, labelling, and quality standards.

For a British brand already operating within UK and EU regulatory frameworks — with batch testing, MSDS documentation, and traceable supply chains — this is an advantage, not a barrier. The brands that will struggle are those without documentation. The brands that benefit are those that already have it.

But compliance registration, product import documentation, and ongoing regulatory correspondence are significantly easier to manage through a UAE-registered entity than from a UK address. A local trade license gives you the commercial standing to register products, deal with authorities directly, and respond to compliance queries without the delays of cross-border communication.

The Commercial Case for Local Establishment

British aromatherapy founders typically approach Dubai one of two ways: sell remotely and deal with friction as it comes, or establish a local entity early and remove that friction before it costs you business.

The remote model works for one-off wholesale orders. It breaks down when the relationship moves to regular supply, exclusivity agreements, or spa partnerships that require local contracts and AED invoicing. In a market where buyers expect speed and commercial simplicity, cross-border invoicing, foreign exchange delays, and offshore vendor onboarding create enough friction to lose the deal to a locally registered competitor.

Local establishment changes the commercial equation:

• Contract eligibility: Many hospitality groups and retail chains require a UAE trade license for vendor onboarding. Without one, you’re excluded from procurement systems before the conversation starts.
• Local invoicing: Billing in AED removes FX approvals and international transfer delays. Payment cycles shorten, and cash flow becomes predictable.
• Product registration: A UAE entity simplifies ECAS compliance, import documentation, and direct engagement with regulatory authorities.
• Regional reach: UAE-based clients often operate across Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the wider GCC. A single Dubai entity can serve as the contracting hub for multi-market distribution.

The point isn’t to relocate. It’s to create local commercial capability so the product can move without the business getting in the way.

How a British Aromatherapy Brand Can Set Up in Dubai

The setup model for a wellness or aromatherapy business follows the same structure as any service or trading company entering the UAE, but the activity selection and compliance pathway matter more than usual.

Step 1: Choose the right business activities

Your trade license needs to reflect what you’re actually doing — whether that’s wholesale distribution, retail, consultancy, or a combination. Free zone structures like Meydan Free Zone offer 2,500+ business activity options, and up to three activity groups can be combined under a single license. For an aromatherapy brand, this might include trading in cosmetics and personal care products, wellness consultancy, and e-commerce, all under one entity.

Step 2: Establish your UAE entity

Through a digital-first setup like Meydan Free Zone, British founders can incorporate fully online using only their passport. The Fawri business license is issued in under 60 minutes, creating the legal entity needed for import registration, local contracts, and banking.

Step 3: Open a UAE bank account

Local banking enables AED invoicing, faster collection, and credibility with procurement teams. Meydan Free Zone provides a guaranteed IBAN pathway, with support for bank-fit matching and applications across multiple partner banks — a step that often stalls founders who try to navigate it independently.

Step 4: Register products and manage compliance

With a local entity in place, the business can register products under ECAS, manage import documentation, and handle regulatory correspondence directly. This is significantly harder to do from a UK address, particularly when timelines are tight or authorities require in-person verification.

Step 5: Choose your operating model

Most British wellness brands entering Dubai don’t relocate production. The model is typically:

• Product ships from the UK (or a third-party logistics partner in the UAE) while the Dubai entity handles contracts, invoicing, and client relationships.
• A hybrid model where the founder or a local hire manages trade relationships on the ground, while formulation and fulfilment remain UK-based.
• Full local presence is added later, once retained accounts or retail partnerships justify the overhead.

Residency visas can be activated when operational presence becomes necessary. Meydan Free Zone supports the end-to-end visa process through mResidency, including medical testing, biometrics, and Emirates ID applications.

Meydan Free Zone vs UK Operation: The Practical Difference

For product and service businesses entering the UAE, the Meydan Free Zone structure is built around low fixed costs and operational flexibility.

Beyond the structural differences, Meydan Free Zone supports how wellness and trading businesses actually scale:

• Establish a company 100% remotely from the UK, with no travel required
• Choose from 2,500+ licensed activities covering trading, wellness, cosmetics, and e-commerce
• Benefit from 100% foreign ownership and full profit repatriation
• Access local banking pathways to enable AED invoicing and faster collection
• Use mPlus for ongoing operational support, including compliance management, license renewals, accounting, and administrative services

In Conclusion

The UAE aromatherapy market isn’t waiting for British brands to arrive. It’s already buying through spas, hotel chains, retail platforms, and clinical wellness providers. The brands that capture this demand won’t necessarily be the ones with the best formulations. They’ll be the ones that can register products locally, invoice in AED, and show up in a procurement system when a buyer is ready to order.

For British aromatherapy and wellness founders, the capability gap isn’t product quality. It’s structure. A local entity removes the friction between having a product that Dubai wants and being able to sell it there commercially.

If you’re looking to bring your British aromatherapy or wellness brand to the UAE market, book a consultation with a setup advisor at Meydan Free Zone to identify the most efficient route to local establishment and product registration.