Dinah Hatch reports on the new properties and attractions being developed in Dubai, the ever-changing emirate state
Dubai is already well known to tourists as a shopping haven, luxury getaway, and a cultural hotspot but the thing about this world-class destination is that it keeps on growing.
The world’s tallest building, the Burj Dubai, is under way, as is the Dubai Festival City, which will be crammed with private residences, hotels and leisure facilities.
This year 22 properties will open in Dubai, adding 10,000 rooms, with 93,867 hotel rooms and apartments planned by 2016. Dubai International Airport is expanding, and the Al Maktoum International Airport, set to be the world’s largest, will open later this year.
Atlantis The Palm opens on man-made island The Palm Jumeirah in September and will feature the largest water-themed attraction in the Middle East, an open-air marine habitat, restaurants, with celebrity chefs, nightclub, spa and The Royal Towers, which have 1,539 rooms and suites.
Per Aquum Resorts moved in too, opening its boutique Desert Palm property on April 1, while in the desert, the super-ambitious Dubailand, a massive tourism and leisure project the size of Florida’s Walt Disney World, which will be home to Universal Studios, Dubai Sports City, the Dreamworks Theme Park and the Al Sahra Desert Resort, is being developed and will be opened at phase one level in 2010.
As if all the above were not enough, Busch announced recently that SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Discovery Cove and Aquatica will be coming to the artificially built island The Palm Jebel Ali, with the first phase opening in 2012.
Attraction World head of product and marketing Gail Dunwoodie said: “Dubai could become as popular as Florida in the theme park market. As more attractions open agents should promote Dubai to anyone considering a theme park holiday.”
“The pace of development is breathtaking,” said Dubai Government’s Department of Tourism, Commerce and Marketing director UK and Ireland office Ian Scott, adding the country was on track to see UK visitor numbers rise from the 700,000 a year to 1.4 million by 2010.
