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Dubai city
of merchants, cultural crossroads, second largest of the
seven United Arab Emirates. A country where the dust of the
desert is clearing to reveal the potential for one of the
most significant international cities of the 21st century.
Wedged between Europe and Asia, buttressed by Africa,
Dubai's encouraging tax regimes, state-of-the-art
telecommunications and sympathetic business environment have
produced a country that is building energetically on the
advantages which location, centuries-old trading savvy and
oil wealth have given it. Dubai is not just a city of
excitement. It's also a city of surprises. Try the ice
skating rink in the Galleria shopping mall at the Hyatt
Regency, where young men wearing traditional dish dash dress
pirouette around the ice while their friends consume French
pastries and coffee at Frosty's cafe.
And other surprises. The magnificently-manicured, lush and
green golf courses. The Irish Village at the Dubai Tennis
Centre. Red telephone boxes which once brightened the
British streetscape have found a home in Dubai. So, too, has
the world's richest horse race, Dubai World Cup, a dream
realised by HH General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Crown Prince of Dubai and Minister of Defence UAE. The race
draws the best thoroughbred horses from America, Europe,
Australia and Asia and races them at the Nad Al Sheba course
alongside the UAE's best.
But it's not just horses which move quickly in Dubai. The
cars hurtling past the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, on the road
to the exclusive Jumeira residential area, and beyond to Abu
Dhabi, include a high proportion of current model Mercedes
Benz and Toyota Land Cruisers. These rich men's cars should
not be taken as evidence that Dubai is frittering away its
oil wealth on expensive toys. The oil is due to run out soon
but Dubai long ago began the task of diversifying its
economy to soften the impact of diminishing oil revenues on
future generations.
Tourism is now an important part of the Dubai government's
strategy to maintain the flow of foreign dollars into the
emirate. "Dubai's attraction," says Patrick Macdonald,
deputy chief executive of the Dubai Commerce and Tourism
Promotion Board, is that it provides an Arabian experience
in a very comfortable, safe and tolerant society.
"Visitors can enjoy all the international pursuits - golf,
watersports, horse racing, polo and nightlife. Plus there's
the attraction of the desert itself, with the opportunity to
be part of an Arabian adventure."
Originally a small fishing settlement, Dubai was taken over
in the 1830s by a tribe led by the Maktoum family, which
still rules the emirate today. So began a trading empire
based on gold, silver, pearls and spices. A fusion of Arab,
Persian and Indian flair established Dubai's business
acumen.
There is perhaps no better place to delve into Dubai's
history than in the museum housed beneath the 180-year-old
Al Fahidi Fort in Bur Dubai. Here the old is replicated
using new technology.
Tableaux show life as it used to be on a working dhow in
Dubai Creek; in the souks and the mosques; and in the desert
camps of the Bedouin tribes. And while much of the
traditional way of life in Dubai has disappeared in the
shiny reflection of the glass and glitz of five star hotels
and commercial offices, and has been devoured by modern
highways, bridges and underpasses, the essence of Arabia
remains in busy side streets, along the creek, and in the
desert which blows at Dubai's backdoor.
The city is divided by Dubai Creek. Consequently the most
interesting and direct way to travel from Bur Dubai to Deira
on the north bank is by abra water taxi, a traditional form
of transport used by locals to go about their business; and
by tourists to access the spice and gold souks, and the
myriad shops selling textiles and electrical goods in the
Shindagha quarter.
Visitors stepping off a boat on the waterfront at Deira
should make a point of looking at the dhows waiting to be
loaded with goods bound for neighboring countries. The piles
of unattended cargo on the dockside illustrate the
underlying honesty of Dubai society. The dhow owners do not
begin loading the boat until every item to be carried has
arrived on the wharf. This can often take several weeks.
In
the meantime, the unpacked cargo stays where it is. But no
one touches it. Crime here is the lowest in the world. Dubai
is a clean, safe country with great shopping, a good climate
for most of the year and lots to do for those who want to be
active."
Five star hotels in the city are recording high occupancy
rates but the competition is hotting up with several new
luxury hotels planned. Hoteliers are keen that perceptions
about Dubai do not suffer from negativity associated with
some other Islamic countries in the Middle East.
Siggi von Brandt, director of sales and marketing for
Meridien, says that more awareness of Dubai is needed in
Asia. "This place has great potential, both as a holiday
destination in its own right, and as a stopover on the way
to Europe. It's a totally different experience to Asia.
Different culture, different dress, different cuisine plus
the mystique of the desert," he says.
Dubai
|
Hotels
Dubai city of merchants, cultural
crossroads, second largest of the
seven United Arab Emirates.
Abu Dhabi
|
Hotels
Abu Dhabi is one of the most modern
cities in the world. It is the
center of government and business
life in the UAE.
Sharjah
|
Hotels
Sharjah is the only Emirate to have
land on both the Arabian Sea and the
Indian Ocean.
Ajman
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Hotels The
Emirate of Ajman is situated on the
coast of the Arabian Gulf, extending
over a distance of 16 Kilometres
long.
Fujairah
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Hotels
Emirate of Fujairah, one of the
seven emirates forming the United
Arab Emirates, witnessed a rapid
rate of economic and social
development.
Ras Al Khaimah
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Hotels
Ras Al Khaimah was the seat of
ancient civilizations, as
archeological excavations have
shown.
Umm Al Quwain
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Hotels
The Emirate of Umm Al Quwain is
located along the coast of the
Arabian Gulf, between Sharjah to the
west.
Wedged between Europe and Asia, buttressed by Africa,
Dubai's encouraging tax regimes, state-of-the-art
telecommunications and sympathetic business environment have
produced a country that is building energetically on the
advantages which location, centuries-old trading savvy and
oil wealth have given it. Dubai is not just a city of
excitement. It's also a city of surprises. Try the ice
skating rink in the Galleria shopping mall at the Hyatt
Regency, where young men wearing traditional dish dash dress
pirouette around the ice while their friends consume French
pastries and coffee at Frosty's cafe.
