DUBAI (dpa) – Oil-rich Dubai is giving new meaning to opulence: In an industry where five stars mean the ultimate in luxury, this tiny desert emirate boasts the world’s only seven-star hotel.
The shimmering Burj al-Arab hotel that juts out of the water like a giant sail is the latest in a collection of luxury hotels and resorts that have transformed Dubai into the Middle East’s most exclusive tourist destination.
Desert dunes, beaches, duty-free shopping and traditional bazaars that vie for business beside shopping malls stocked with Italian handbags and French perfumes, are just some of the attractions that drew 3.5 million visitors this year, more than three times Dubai’s tiny population of about one million.
In its quest for bigger, better and the most luxurious, Dubai is even defying nature, building an indoor ski slope, while summer temperatures outdoors shoot up to a scorching 42 degrees Celsius.
A prototype has already been built, and a giant one is in the making.
“This is only a prototype of what is yet to come…We are planning to construct a ski slope 600 metres long and 50 metres wide,” said Yousef El Hindi of the Mohammed Al Otaiba Group, the company that is developing the project.
The slope, to be completed in two years at a cost of 32 million dollars, will be housed in an indoor ski resort made to rival the best in St. Moritz. It will include a spa, a four-star motel and ski instructors.
Tourism is growing into a big business in Dubai, contributing to about a quarter of gross domestic product. Until recently, re-exports and oil were the emirate’s main sources of income.
Europeans are among the biggest number of visitors to Dubai, mainly from Britain, Germany and Switzerland, according to Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce.
The force behind Dubai’s growth is the emirate’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who recently said at a travel show that he expects tourism to double within three years.
“Our main vision is to develop a high class tourism market. We are not interested in creating a cheap package industry like that of other countries”, Sheikh Mohammed said.
Dubai’s new landmark, whose image graces postcards, T-shirts and even license plates, and which draws gasps from first-time visitors, is the stunning Burj al-Arab, designed to look like a giant white sail.
“Visitors to the hotel give it the honorary title of a seven-star hotel because of its magnificence and ultimate luxury, which has never before been seen”, said Mary McLaughlin, the hotel’s media relations manager.
The hotel, whose name means Tower of the Arabs, bills itself as the world’s tallest at 321 metres, the most luxurious and costliest. Guests arriving at Dubai’s new, sprawling airport have a choice of being ferried to the hotel by helicopter or a Rolls-Royce limousine. A suite runs at about 7,000 dollars a night.
Dubai boasts 282 hotels, with a total of 10,000 five star rooms. By 2010, the number of hotels is expected to rise to 400.
In its ambitions to rival the Mediterranean and the Bahamas as a top tourist destination, Dubai is reaching even farther offshore. Work has started on a pair of the world’s largest man-made islands.
The islands, which will be shaped like palm trees, will house 80 hotels and more than 2,000 luxury villas.
Developers of the Palm Islands Project, which will add 120 kilometres of sandy beaches to Dubai’s coast, claim it will be visible from the moon with the naked eye.
“Our idea is that the island’s environment will be similar to perhaps that of the Bahamas, Mauritius or the Maldives”, said Sultan bin Sulayem, Chairman of Palm Developers.
Another mega-project in the works is Madinat Jumeirah, a 900-room five-star deluxe resort, which will feature a main hotel designed in the shape of a Summer Palace surrounded by villas set in lush, landscaped gardens.
To cope with the growth in tourism, Emirates airline has announced plans to become one of the world’s largest airlines over the next 10 years, expanding its current fleet of 35 aircraft to 210 over the next decade.
