Dubai Travel
The city of Dubai is one of those cities that either appalls
the onlooker with the vulgarity of its expenditure or delights with the sweep of
its optimism and ambition. One way or another, it is nearly impossible to ignore
the reach of Dubai as an international city. From practically nowhere in terms
of international tourism it has become one of the top five destinations for
international visitors in the last few years – with numbers that continue to
grow even as the global economy slips back. There are many good reasons why
people choose to visit Dubai. The aforementioned ambition of the city is so
extensive that it has set some really quite unexpected records.
The first city in the Middle East with a ski slope? It is Dubai, with a complex known as “Ski Dubai” in the Mall of the Emirates. As it is bound never to snow outdoors in Dubai in any of our lifetimes, they have solved the problem by making it snow inside, creating an almost surreal experience for visitors and residents who can go from 40 degrees Celsius outdoors to a snow-covered ski slope in a shopping mall. If that isn’t ambition, what is? A seven-star hotel perhaps? The world’s first ever seven-star hotel? The Burj al Arab – situated on its own private island and currently the world’s tallest residential property. This is another sign of dizzying ambition, and it is the ambition upon which the story of Dubai has been constructed.
Few other cities in the world have gained as many column inches in the global press in recent years as Dubai. Quite purely and simply, it has taken the opportunity of billions of dollars’ worth of oil money to make itself one of the world’s most consistently astounding cities. The two examples mentioned above are just part of what makes Dubai so incredible, but as examples go they are rather telling. The amazing thing about Dubai is that it has taken the opportunity offered to it and gone ahead with the most amazing, diverse developments one could imagine. With little or no consultation with the rest of the world, Dubai has chosen to take on the old order and turn it on its head with incredible speed.
There are, and always will be, many who consider Dubai to be just a little bit too vulgar for its own good. It will always be a controversial city, and for many people it simply is not their cup of tea. But what cannot be denied is that Dubai has taken a country that was hardly prominent in most people’s thoughts a short time ago and planted it firmly on the newspaper pages, the TV screens and the consciousness of the world in a heartbeat. As time goes on, people will be fascinated to see what Dubai does next. Whatever it is, it is highly likely to be controversial, ambitious, exciting and unique. Even if you don’t approve, you would be well advised to keep an eye out for it.