Emirates Rising
Around 15 years ago it was a dream for the people in Dubai to make it a tourist place. Currently Dubai receives 6 million tourists annually and 2010 estimates have revealed the figure increasing to 15 million.
Dubai was once known only for its oil reserves. But after the speedy development in real estate area with powerful multinationals investing in the sector has transformed Dubai into a beautiful tourist spot. Through tourism Dubai’s GDP has seen a hike of 33% whereas through oil the GDP rise is 5 %. Dubai has followed the footsteps of Singapore. The prosperity of Singapore is beyond words. It houses some of the best and tallest skyscrapers, richest malls and highly sophisticated offices, and so does Dubai property.
In 1991, there were just 700,000 hotel guests in his Emirate. Last year, there were 6.1 million. The number of inflow of passengers has crawled from some 18 million passengers to 28 million and by 2010 is expected to touch 60 million. It is proving itself to be a snow city in the middle of the hot arid desert.
Following the prosperity of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the largest and richest of the emirates with 11 per cent of the world's oil reserves, is now rushing to reinvent itself as a tourist destination. While Dubai displays itself in a cluster of 300 man-made islands in the shape of the world map, each resembling the country it represents, with homes selling for between US$10 million and US$50 million.
One of these islands, 2,500 hectare in area, Al Habel Al Abbyad, will see the proposed development of Ferrari World theme park. This would feature exciting rides and the development of a glamorous Monaco-style waterfront racing track which could be the venue for a world-class motor race. After Abu Dhabi, one delegate to Global Entrepolis, dreams to build a zoo along the lines of the one in Singapore. The zoo is fabulous entertainment place for the kids and family vacation. Neighboring emirate Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) has included in it’s tourism drive a space port, similar to the one that is being planned for Singapore. The projects in both RAK and Singapore, expected to take off in three years time. It will thrust passengers on sub-orbital rides into space at $100,000 or so each time. Even tiny Umm Al Quwain, whose population numbers just tens of thousands, is also determined not to be left out. It is now building a huge $6 billion waterfront housing and marina project with investment from Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
These emirates have not forgotten to carve a niche in the hospitality sector in the area of air travel. Abu Dhabi has launched Etihad Airways, RAK has RAK Airways, and Sharjah, another emirate, has Air Arabia. The tremendous success of Dubai's Emirates airline has acted as a catalyst for the new projects; they face a stiff competition from well established gulf airways and Qatar airways. Qatar has earlier marked itself with huge oil reserves and hosting of the controversial Al Jazeera television station.
Earlier this year, Dubai's big three companies – Emaar, Dubai Holdings and Dubai World, all controlled by the ruling Maktoum family – announced plans to spend $64 billion on luxury projects in Pakistan, including two giant man-made island resorts off Karachi, reports Newsweek magazine in its latest issue. Dubai has also made a $30 billion commitment to develop the Morcoccan town of Oukaimedan, into a haven for golf and skiing in the Atlas Mountains and it will play the lead role in constructing the $45 billion King Abdullah City on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia.
But then the man who is the original link between Singapore and Dubai, Mr Mohammed Al Abbar, who worked five years in Singapore, before heading Dubai's Department of Economic Development, was in his 30s while supervising the massive billion-dollar development that has taken Dubai to its glittering zenith. He wanted Dubai to become the Singapore of the Gulf. Today, it is giving Singapore a run for its money.
Dubai was once known only for its oil reserves. But after the speedy development in real estate area with powerful multinationals investing in the sector has transformed Dubai into a beautiful tourist spot. Through tourism Dubai’s GDP has seen a hike of 33% whereas through oil the GDP rise is 5 %. Dubai has followed the footsteps of Singapore. The prosperity of Singapore is beyond words. It houses some of the best and tallest skyscrapers, richest malls and highly sophisticated offices, and so does Dubai property.
In 1991, there were just 700,000 hotel guests in his Emirate. Last year, there were 6.1 million. The number of inflow of passengers has crawled from some 18 million passengers to 28 million and by 2010 is expected to touch 60 million. It is proving itself to be a snow city in the middle of the hot arid desert.
Following the prosperity of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the largest and richest of the emirates with 11 per cent of the world's oil reserves, is now rushing to reinvent itself as a tourist destination. While Dubai displays itself in a cluster of 300 man-made islands in the shape of the world map, each resembling the country it represents, with homes selling for between US$10 million and US$50 million.
One of these islands, 2,500 hectare in area, Al Habel Al Abbyad, will see the proposed development of Ferrari World theme park. This would feature exciting rides and the development of a glamorous Monaco-style waterfront racing track which could be the venue for a world-class motor race. After Abu Dhabi, one delegate to Global Entrepolis, dreams to build a zoo along the lines of the one in Singapore. The zoo is fabulous entertainment place for the kids and family vacation. Neighboring emirate Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) has included in it’s tourism drive a space port, similar to the one that is being planned for Singapore. The projects in both RAK and Singapore, expected to take off in three years time. It will thrust passengers on sub-orbital rides into space at $100,000 or so each time. Even tiny Umm Al Quwain, whose population numbers just tens of thousands, is also determined not to be left out. It is now building a huge $6 billion waterfront housing and marina project with investment from Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
These emirates have not forgotten to carve a niche in the hospitality sector in the area of air travel. Abu Dhabi has launched Etihad Airways, RAK has RAK Airways, and Sharjah, another emirate, has Air Arabia. The tremendous success of Dubai's Emirates airline has acted as a catalyst for the new projects; they face a stiff competition from well established gulf airways and Qatar airways. Qatar has earlier marked itself with huge oil reserves and hosting of the controversial Al Jazeera television station.
Earlier this year, Dubai's big three companies – Emaar, Dubai Holdings and Dubai World, all controlled by the ruling Maktoum family – announced plans to spend $64 billion on luxury projects in Pakistan, including two giant man-made island resorts off Karachi, reports Newsweek magazine in its latest issue. Dubai has also made a $30 billion commitment to develop the Morcoccan town of Oukaimedan, into a haven for golf and skiing in the Atlas Mountains and it will play the lead role in constructing the $45 billion King Abdullah City on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia.
But then the man who is the original link between Singapore and Dubai, Mr Mohammed Al Abbar, who worked five years in Singapore, before heading Dubai's Department of Economic Development, was in his 30s while supervising the massive billion-dollar development that has taken Dubai to its glittering zenith. He wanted Dubai to become the Singapore of the Gulf. Today, it is giving Singapore a run for its money.
posted by Property Reporter at
11:06 PM
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