| Picture: Image Bank |
Visitors touching down in Dubai just 10 years ago would
have had a fairly restricted itinerary. After seeing a few malls
and taking a trip into the desert, it would have been time to call
it a day. But inbound tourists now face the opposite scenario: how
much can they do in the time available?
In its desire to create a tourism and leisure hub that not only
outshines the rest of Middle East, but also eclipses anything you
might find east of Disney and south of Alton Towers, the Dubai
government is taking the ‘blunderbuss’ approach to
tourism development – if there’s a chance of tapping
into a new market, then build they will.
From ski slopes and monster malls to world-class golf and luxury
spas, its attractions are becoming ever more bold and varied. For a
full flavour of just how diverse the city is becoming, read
on.
Sporting chance
Two 18-hole golf courses, one renovated and the other new, have
been carved out in the heart of the city. The Dubai Creek Golf and
Yacht Club features a new front nine as well as a 225-room Park
Hyatt, due to open later this summer. Al Badia Golf Resort at Dubai
Festival City, a stunning 18-hole course from top designer Robert
Trent Jones II, is now open for pay and play. Trent Jones has
introduced a Rivers of Sand concept, which runs throughout the
Dubai Festival City course.
Greg Norman is developing four new courses at Jumeirah Golf
Estates, three 18-hole courses and the six-hole Little White Shark
training course, due to open later this year.
All sporting eyes will shortly be fixed on Dubai Sports City which
is due to open within two years. The complex will contain dedicated
stadia for cricket, hockey and rugby as well as a multi-purpose
arena.
Sample product: Emirates has a three-night golf
package at the five-star Palm Tree Court and Spa from £651 per
person including breakfast, a day at the Jebel Ali course, Emirates
flights and transfers.
Sunset Faraway features five nights at the Jebel Ali Hotel and Golf
Resort from £714 this summer. Aside from a nine-hole, par-36
golf course and driving range the hotel has three pools, horse
riding, camel riding, tennis and squash, a water sports marina and
children’s activities. Passengers flying on Emirates pay no
surcharge for golf clubs.
Longmere Golf has a package in June flying with Emirates and
staying seven nights at the Hilton Dubai Creek for £976
(non-golfers £799) including three rounds of golf on Al Badia,
Emirates and Dubai Creek golf courses.
Mall or nothing
Even the great explorer himself may get lost in the new Ibn Battuta
Mall (ibnbattutamall.com), which has shot up next to Jebel Ali
village. Each of the six themed courts – Andalucian,
Tunisian, Egyptian, Arabian, Indian and Chinese – reflects
the 14th century explorer’s intrepid jaunts across a 30-year
period and spans an area of 5.4 million sq ft. Battuta spent most
of his life mapping out the Indian Ocean, Africa and much else
besides.
Beyond the traditional architecture are plenty of modernist touches
such as a 21-screen Megaplex and Imax cinema. And there’s
nothing dated about the shops – fashionable outlets include
Fidel (T-shirts and accessories) Forever 21 (affordable
women’s fashion), Betsey Johnson (New York designer),
Géant (a French outlet covering 200,000sq ft) and Conbipel
(Italian brand for men, women and children).
Back in the city, the first phase of Dubai Festival City opens this
autumn with a landmark Ikea among the first outlets to open. On
completion, the Festival Centre will host 450 shops and 70
restaurants and cafés, many facing the waterfront Creek in a
Riviera-style setting. A 300-room boutique hotel and a 300-room
budget hotel will join the Four Seasons, InterContinental and
Crowne Plaza hotels which are due to open in 2007.
Sample product: Libra Holidays sells seven nights
at the Sheraton Dubai Creek from £815 per person in July
including flights. The hotel is within walking distance of the main
shopping centre. Hayes and Jarvis has three nights at Rydges Plaza
from £369 per person in June and Somak sells five nights at
the Golden Sands Apartments from £579 per person. The hotel is
downtown and close to the gold souk.
Wow factor
Whether it’s building palm trees in the sea or putting a map
of the world in the water, Dubai prides itself on turning
conventional construction wisdom on its head. The next project sure
to set tongues wagging is Mall of the Emirates, being constructed
off Sheikh Zayed Road, and due to open in September. Alongside the
leisure, dining, entertainment and shopping mix that is the
hallmark of all Dubai’s malls, is something genuinely
different – a 320-metre indoor ski run. Temperatures will be
chilled enough to feel like you’re in the Alps – which
will certainly prove a contrast in summer, when you step out into
40C heat.
Overnight visitors no longer have to travel in dune-bashing
four-wheel drives if they want to experience the desert first hand.
Less than half an hour out of the city on new highways lies the
five-star Bab Al Shams Desert Resort and Spa, which offers an
altogether more serene, arid experience.
You can still see the camels and falconry as you would on an
afternoon safari – but there’s something appealing
about making a night of it at this authentic, tranquil resort,
styled like a typical Bedouin village. Bab Al Shams isn’t
cheap at £420 (excluding 20% taxes) per night for a suite
until September 15, but it will still undercut the exclusive
suite-only Al Maha Desert Resort.
Sample product: five nights at Bab Al Shams with
Kuoni costs from £699 per person. Facilities include a Sartori
Spa and fitness centre, desert-side swimming pool and a kids’
club. A free shuttle bus runs between the resort and Wild Wadi
Water Park. A desert and beach twin-centre with three nights at Bab
Al Shams and four at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel costs from £892
per person, including breakfast.
Luxury living
The second Palazzo Versace Hotel will open on the banks of Dubai
Creek in 2008. The first Palazzo Versace hotel opened on
Australia’s Gold Coast in 2000 and the cautious expansion
reflects the group’s intention to keep the brand exclusive.
No more than 10 Palazzo Versace hotels are anticipated
worldwide.
The 215-suite Dubai property will include every facet of the luxury
design brand, right down to the flooring and chairs, plus 204
villas. No luxury stone will be left unturned. Even the sand on the
man-made beach will be chilled to 22C so the grains are
feet-friendly at the height of the Gulf summer. The project is
estimated to cost more than £385 million.
Le Meridien Grosvenor House opens this month, Park Hyatt at Dubai
Creek Golf Club opens in September and the Four Seasons Golf and
Country Club at Dubai Festival City opens early in 2007. Also
opening in 2007 is a Raffles Dubai in Wafi City in 2007, while the
Taj group is opening a 220-room Taj Exotica Resort and Spa on The
Palm, promising spectacular ocean and skyline views.
Sample product: Dubai is not short on luxury
hotels. Travel 2 sells the One&Only Royal Mirage from £112
per person, per night, twin-share this summer. The Residence and
Spa leads in at £136 and the Arabian Court at £120. Gold
Medal has five nights with breakfast at Le Meridien Grosvenor House
from £625 and an exclusive package at Al Maha Desert Resort
and Spa from £875 per person for three nights’
full-board.
Elite Vacations sells three nights at the Burj Al Arab from
£1,153 and three nights at the Madinat Jumeirah from
£776. Premier Holidays offers sightseeing by private car from
£89 per person for a half day.
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