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Dubai, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been aptly described as a place where vision is a tradition. This cannot be farther from the truth if gleaned from the perspective of the visionary approach adopted in turning it into a grade ‘A’ tourist destination. This feat was not achieved overnight, it was said to be an outcome of long meticulous planning to make it the destination of choice for holidaying and business people the world over.
A first timer in Dubai would not but marvel at the serenity and incredible ambience there and the inexhaustible tourist destinations in the city which have greatly boosted its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the UAE and Dubai in particular. Though UAE is one of the world’s biggest oil producing nations, pumping about five million barrels of crude per day. But it has successfully diversified its econommy, through tourism as it is now one of the most visited countries in the globe.
The number of tourists visiting Dubai keeps growing daily and there is a projection of over 20 million tourists visiting the city by 2020 according to Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
Courtesy of Emirates Airlines, the flagship carrier of UAE, some select Nigerian journalists were in Dubai recently to experience the splendour of the world’s fastest-growing tourist destination. The five nights of started from Nigeria on the highly exquisite Emirates Business Class which was made even more exciting by the in-flight entertainment known as ICE (Information, Communication and Entertainment). Through ICE, a passenger can access information on the distance to destination, aircraft speed, as well as communicate with other passengers but the entertainment is the most interesting part of ICE as it enables passengers to see a variety of movies and listen to different musical collections.
Taking off on a Tuesday at about 6:30 pm, the team arrived in the wee hours of Wednesday in Dubai regarded as a 24-hour city while the team headed straight to the Address Hotel Dubai Mall, one of the most strategically located suites in Downtown Dubai which connects visitors easily to Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
As a tourist destination, hotel and hospitality is a booming business as the large number of holiday resorts and restaurants serve hundreds of businessmen and holiday makers entering the city in droves.
The five-day itinerary was a tour of the city’s foremost holiday and leisure centres showcasing the unique attractions in Dubai. The first day in the city saw the visitors experiencing the unique blend of traditional Arab hospitality at the Address while in the evening, it was a dinner at SEA FU, a signature Seafood restaurant at Four Seasons Resort Dubai located in Jumeirah Beach which offers splendid views of the Arabian Gulf.
The tour of old and new Dubai began on Thursday with the guide from Arabian Adventures taking the team through historic places, including the Jumeirah Mosque, the Dubai Museum built in 1787 and the oldest existing building in Dubai; Burj Al Arab regarded as the world’s most luxurious hotel with a beautiful beach which bubbles every hour of the week. Also visited during the tour was the Gold market close to the museum.
“One thing about Dubai and UAE generally is that despite being an oil producing nation, they have fully diversified into tourism and Dubai is the centre of tourist attraction, explained one of the tour guides, Mauro Mancini. “They have got all sorts of shows and resorts for the holidays and the shows never end.”
After a brief view of Burj Al Arab Hotel, the next port of call was the Club Vista Mare, Palm Jumeirah which boasts of a breeze restaurant and Palm Jumeirah Boat service. Though it was a week day, the club was busy in the afternoon with picnickers relishing the resplendence and the coolness of the club.
Though Dubai is a modern city distinguished by the numerous magnificent constructions, it still retains its old identity. According to the guide, the difference between the old and new Dubai is that the former represents the past, traditional and cultural aspects of the city.
“You discover that the old Dubai is more traditional in outlook. There are not too many tall buildings and here where you have the Dubai museum is called Al Fahid Fort located at Bur Dubai and you can see that you crossed the river on a wooden canoe, so you can have a feel of the traditional and cultural past of Dubai. Unlike when you go to Dubai downtown, what you see mostly are modern skyscrapers and magnificent buildings and hotels,” the tour guide explained.
Thursday evening was another tour of the Atlantis, The Palm, which is one of the nine resorts on Palm Jumeirah. The Atlantis boasts of 1, 539 rooms often occupied by leisure guests and interestingly one of the suites in the hotel costs a princely $27, 000 (approximately N11 million) per night. The hotel which was the first resort built on Palm Jumeirah Islands consists of the East and the West Tower which are linked by the Royal Bridge Suite. It is complemented by the Aquaventure water park and the Nasimi Beach which often plays host to concerts and other events.
The aquarium which has 65,000 fishes of different species and colours is a major attraction in the Atlantis. It was a beehive of activities on Thursday evening inside the Atlantis - a concert on one side, the aquarium view, among other shows thrilling visitors and guests.
“Most of the guests we have here came for vacation or honeymoon in the case of couples and this is always a very busy resort,” said the Assistant Manager, Public Relations of the Atlantis, Ilu Bhatia who took journalists round the facilities.
The day’s tour was rounded up with a dinner at the Yuan, a Chinese restaurant, inside the resort.
The following day was the tour of Burj Khalifa, rated as the world’s the tallest building by the Guinness Book of World Records. The 164-storey building in downtown Dubai opened in 2010. The $1.5 billion building stands at 829.8 metres (2, 722 feet).
Findings showed that a tourist pays between $300 and $500 to visit the top of the building, the 125th floor which offers a vivid view of the city. It has other features like the Dubai Fountain, the observation deck and Burj Khalifa Park. All of these features, among several others stand out Burj Khalifa, which according to an official, is one of the iconic places that have positioned the Dubai to achieve its dream of being a foremost tourist destination in the world.
Friday evening was a visit to the Desert Safari managed by the Dubai Conservation Centre. It was another exciting time in the desert experiencing the Dune driving, sand surfing, the Falcon Show, camel and horse rides as well as the dinner experience. “This is another nice and cool place in Dubai for tourists to experience nature,” said a tourist from US, Michell Jerry.
One thing that baffles most tourists is the incredible ingenuity of turning a desert into tourist attraction. What could be more ingenuous!
Saturday morning after breakfast at the hotel was a visit to another awesome holiday centre, the recently opened IMG Worlds of Adventures regarded as the world’s largest indoor entertainment park. It was opened in August but it has played host to over four million visitors already.
In fact, an official of the park told our reporter that the target is to reach 4.5 million visitors before 2017. With over 25 rides and different games, the park is the perfect place for the adventurous. Inside the park were a large number of children attractions and rides among like Avengers’ Battle of Ultron, Spider-Man, Doc Ock’s Revenge, the World of Candy, Carton Network Classics, Carton Network Feast, any many kiddies’ stores. Apart from the rides, the Haunted Hotel’s experience was also excitedly scary same for the forbidden territory all packed together to make the stay of visitors a worthwhile experience. For the team, it was an inexhaustible tour of the park which covers an area of 1.5 million square feet.
However, it was an evening of elegance, a bespoke experience of the waterways of Dubai on a Bateaux Dubai Dinner cruise. The air-conditioned luxury vessel takes off at 8 pm and returns by 11 pm daily.
The cruise route covers both sides of Dubai Creek, showing the guests and the visitors what the area was like with historic old neighbourhoods, elegant wind towers, bustling open-air markets and wooden boats offloading goods in a century-old tradition. Inside the ship, one could see the Emirates NBD Headquarters, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Dhow Wharfage, Deira Clock Towers, among others.
The very last port of call prior to returning to Nigeria was the radiant Miracle Garden, the home of butterflies and colour. Nationals of different countries go there to savour the beauty of nature and butterfly. Butterflies of different colours and sizes reside in the well enclosed, aesthetically beautiful and eye-catching garden.
Renowned Nollywood actress, Mercy Aigbe, who was part of the team, described the tour as not only exciting, but memorable made possible by the various tourist attractions and resorts that have made the city the number one destination of choice for many fun-loving people around the world.
It was learnt that Dubai is targeting 20 million tourists by 2020 when it will host the World Expo, and that is Nakheel, the foremost developer in Dubai has been planning and delivering countless master projects and leading resorts aimed at widening tourism space in Dubai. Nakheel which was one of the organisations visited started with the iconic Palm Jumeirah which comprises resorts like Atlantis, The Palm, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, One & Only, Rixos, The Palm, Anantara, Sofitel, The Fairmont, Waldorf Astoria and Kempinski Residences, among others.
Dubai, the capital of the UAE has no doubt achieved an incredible feat in its diversification drive in recent years by dint of hard-work and sheer ingenuity to prepare for a post-oil economy.
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