Dubai or Dubayy (in Arabic) is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the Arabian Peninsula.
The second largest of the seven Emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, Dubai is located on the southern shore of the Arabian Gulf.The official language is Arabic, Arabic and English are commonly used in business and commerce. Hindi and Urdu are also widely used.
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.
Dubai offers a kaleidoscope of attractions for visitors.
Some Major Tourist Attractions DubaiCity
Dubai’s central business district is divided into two parts — Deira on the northern side and Bur Dubai to the south — connected by a tunnel and two bridges. Each has its share of fine mosques and busy souks, of public buildings, shopping malls, hotels, office towers, banks, hospitals, schools, apartments and villas.
Outside this core, the city extends to the neighbouring emirate of Sharjah to the north, while extending south and west in a long ribbon of development alongside the Gulf, through the districts of Satwa, Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim.
The Creek
The Creek, a natural sea-water inlet which cuts through the centre of the city, is the historic focal point of life in Dubai. Visitors will be captivated by the colour and bustle of the loading and unloading of dhows which still ply ancient trade routes to places as distant as India and East Africa. Boatmen will also take visitors on a fascinating hour-long trip from the abra embarkation points to the mouth of the Creek and inland to the Maktoum Bridge, passing on the way many of the city’s historic and modern landmarks.
On the Bur Dubai side between Maktoum and Garhoud bridges, Creekside Park provides pleasant paved walks and extensive landscaped public gardens.
At the inland end of the Creek is a large, shallow lagoon, now a wildlife sanctuary which has become a haven for migrating shore birds. Some 27,000 birds have been counted here at one time during the autumn migration. The most spectacular are the many Greater Flamingos which have made the Creek their permanent home.
There is perhaps no better place to delve into Dubai’s history than in the
museum housed beneath the 180-year-old Al Fahidi Fort in Bur Dubai. Here the old is replicated using new technology.Crime here is the lowest in the world.
Dubai is a clean, safe country with great shopping, a good climate for most of the year and lots to do for those who want to be active.
Siggi von Brandt, director of sales and marketing for Meridien, says that more awareness of Dubai is needed in Asia.
“This place has great potential, both as a holiday destination in its own right, and as a stopover on the way to Europe. It’s a totally different experience to Asia. Different culture, different dress, different cuisine plus the mystique of the desert,” he says.
