PLAYGROUND OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Dubai. If you can’t find it here, they’ll import it; a man-made ski-slope, sand from the
desert, architecture and businesses from all around the world. Even the population is
largely imported. Everything is purposebuilt, created from nothing, literally from out
of the desert.

All around, Dubai is growing on a scale that makes most of the world’s other construction
projects pale by comparison. The Palm Islands (one in Jumeirah, the other in Jebel Ali) are two huge man-made promontories on the Persian Gulf in the shape of palm trees and ready to accommodate scores of hotels.

The World, which is a group of 200 manmade islands laid out to resemble a map of the
earth, is under construction offshore. There are new towers, construction projects and hotels that might even rival the Burj Al Arab, the sail-shaped ‘seven-star’ hotel.
In the ‘old town’, Burj Dubai will create a new architectural landmark that has already stolen the title as the world’s tallest building, even though it won’t be fully completed until late next year.

Elsewhere, the spotlight is on Festival City, a development that is being dubbed as a ‘world-class waterfront lifestyle resort’. The new development, located in Dubai Creek, will house an InterContinental and a Crowne Plaza.

Then there’s Dubailand. The development includes theme parks, sports academies, cultural attractions and shopping on such a huge scale that construction won’t be complete until 2025. It will house a dinosaur park, a space park, a Malaysian rainforest with two Bengal tigers, a man-made volcano and a new – and of course bigger – ski dome with its own bobsled track.

“If you want to see the future, then come to Dubai,” says Frederic Bardin, senior vice-president of Dubai DMC Arabian Adventures.

It seems as if Dubai, a destination that is quite literally full of superlatives, really does
have everything.

NEW ARRIVALS
Last year, Dubai received a total of 6.5 million visitors. In a span of ten years, from 1996 to
2006, arrivals have grown a whopping 242 per cent.

Europe is the main market for Dubai but Asian meetings and incentives groups are beginning to visit the city in significant numbers. The emirate will soon receive approved destination status (ADS) from China, which will see these numbers increase. Last year, Dubai’s hotels had an occupancy rate of 85 per cent – higher than Hong Kong, Sydney, Tokyo and London.

If the infrastructure is to accommodate this growth is not already in place, it soon will be.
A new airport, the world’s largest, is being built for US$33 billion, while Emirates Airlines continues to be the oil that keeps the tourism engine running.

A new 50,000 sqm exhibition centre will soon emerge near the old airport. The Metro, which will be ready in 2010, will include 55 stations and about 100 trains.