|
Dubai is not just a city of excitement. It’s also a city of
surprises. Try the ice skating rink in the Galleria shopping mall at
the Hyatt Regency, where young men wearing traditional dish dash dress
pirouette around the ice while their friends consume French pastries
and coffee.
And other surprises. The magnificently-manicured, lush and green
golf courses. The Irish Village at the Dubai Tennis Centre. Red
telephone boxes which once brightened the British streetscape have
found a home in Dubai. So, too, has the world’s richest horse race,
Dubai World Cup, a dream realised by HH General Sheikh Mohammed Bin
Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Minister of Defence UAE.
The race draws the best thoroughbred horses from America, Europe,
Australia and Asia and races them at the Nad Al Sheba course alongside
the UAE’s best.
But it’s not just horses which move quickly in Dubai. The cars
hurtling past the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, on the road to the
exclusive Jumeira residential area, and beyond to Abu Dhabi, include a
high proportion of current model Mercedes Benz and Toyota Land
Cruisers. These rich men’s cars should not be taken as evidence that
Dubai is frittering away its oil wealth on expensive toys. The oil is
due to run out soon but Dubai long ago began the task of diversifying
its economy to soften the impact of diminishing oil revenues on future
generations.
Tourism is now an important part of the Dubai government’s strategy
to maintain the flow of foreign dollars into the emirate. “Dubai’s
attraction,” says Patrick Macdonald, deputy chief executive of the
Dubai Commerce and Tourism Promotion Board, is that it provides an
Arabian experience in a very comfortable, safe and tolerant society.
“Visitors can enjoy all the international pursuits - golf,
watersports, horse racing, polo and nightlife. Plus there’s the
attraction of the desert itself, with the opportunity to be part of an
Arabian adventure.”
|
Printer Friendly Page
PDF
Full Details
