Special Features
Dubai - A magnet for the world
One of the richest of the Gulf States and a sporting nirvana, the formerly oil-rich Emirate of Dubai, is enjoying unprecedented good times as it diversifies away from black gold to cater for tourists looking for almost endless sunshine and five-star service.Dubai has more than its fair share of world-class sporting events - the recent ATP Tennis Tournament, the Desert Classic Golf - replete with Tiger Woods last year teeing off from the iconic, [pounds sterling]790 a night Burg Al Arab’s helicopter pad - and the annual, raucous Rugby 7s.
The latter - a global event featuring the shorter Union game, is also one of the few times in a year that alcohol can be consumed outdoors, and several sponsors, including Heineken and Jacob’s Creek wine, make full use of the brief, liberal window to promote their products.
It is also an undeniably British and Commonwealth affair with tens of thousands of young people from the UK, Australia, South Africa et al, rendering the few French and German voices largely silent, and, in much the same manner as the Hong Kong Rugby 7s, vast quantities of refreshing liquids are consumed under a hot sun.
This year’s event was a complete sell out - around 25,000 for the final day - with England even managing to walk off with the title - much to the unbridled joy of the Brit ex-pats, who by the time the final came around, would have frankly cheered anything.
But for those nonprofessional tourists, Dubai also offers virtually year-round opportunities to play sport, be it tennis, dune bashing and camel riding, while the benign climate allows for a whole plethora of water activities.
There are seven Emirates making up the UAE and of perhaps all Middle East countries, it is surely Dubai that powers the region in terms of tourism but also in a far more relaxed attitude than some of its more severe neighbors.
But Dubai - whose population is expected to more than double in 12 years to reach 3m - is a country that presents a bewildering series of contrasts and traditions. It might have all the essential ingredients of a first world, fabulously wealthy state, but look a little harder and a whole new environment opens up.
The Emirates has to tread a fine line between East and West but also has some pretty tough neighbors in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Its monarchy, headed overall by Abu Dhabi, recognizes that ex-pats - making up by far the largest element of the population - bring in enormous revenue and know-how - but they are still subject to strict controls. The beaches, world-class hotels and myriad sports are all patronized by non-locals, but there is a relatively constrained press and of course alcohol consumption is strictly regulated.
But at least residents - earning enough and with a permit - are allowed to imbibe. Other neighboring Emirates and countries do not allow alcohol at all and although Dubai’s watering holes are almost exclusively in incredibly ostentatious hotels, the possibility is there to unwind after a day’s work.
The State is pragmatic too. Oil is predicted to start running dry in a few years time, which explains Dubai’s enormous push into tourism and the key driver of this, has to be Emirates Airlines. Having a 77-strong fleet, Emirates’ massive expansion - along with one of the most impressive airports in the world - continues to astound. It has placed orders for 22 Airbus A380 and is spending $20bn on new aircraft . This growth has generated an enormous - everything in Dubai seems to be a superlative - construction program as hotel after hotel - mostly four and five star - rise from the desert in an endless succession of cranes and skyscrapers.
Dubai is a city where the numbers just get bigger and bigger and one of the most impressive examples of this is the fantastically successful Dubai Duty Free (DDF), now the world’s third largest duty free business. DDF is growing 32% a year and sales for 2004 reached an amazin
