Development in Dubai races ahead despite financial gloom

If there are any group of individuals that seems determined to battle their way through the current global woes and overcome any potential recession it is Dubai’s leisure and tourism chiefs, who are ambitiously embarking on the construction of even more hotel and conference facilities in the Emirate.



Although the rest of the world may be reeling from the massive financial fallout of the global banking crisis, latest forecasts for the Emirate’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) predict an 11% average annual growth over the next eight years; much of the increase from non-oil foreign trade, primarily tourism and inward business investment.



Indeed, Dubai has developed dramatically in the last two decades as it works on positioning itself as the self-styled hub of the Middle East, and even though there are already 325 hotels offering almost 34,000 rooms, the stated goal of Dubai’s hotel bosses is that by 2015 the Emirate will be able to offer 100,000 rooms to an expected 15 million visitors. That represents a massive increase of 300% on the current situation and highlights the phenomenal ambition of the Emirate’s leisure chiefs.



The construction of the world’s tallest building the Burj Dubai is expected to be complete in 2015 but its in-built hotel will add only another 160 rooms towards the required 66,000 new room target, when it opens in late 2008. In the meantime the extensive development of new hotels closer to the ground continues apace as the tourism industry continues to thrive.



The city is being heavily promoted throughout the world and attracting visitors from far and wide, as the latest figures on hotel occupancy testify. Hotels in Dubai attracted over seven million people in 2007, representing an occupancy rate of 85% over the year, a three-fold increase on figures from the previous decade.



In addition to building hotels, the city has also seen a huge increase in corporate office space and innovative and lavish leisure facilities, such as the first ever indoor ski resort in the Middle East. The spectacular 85-metre high Ski Dubai facility offers 22,500 square metres of ‘real’ snow allowing Dubai residents and visitors to ski and snowboard in a desert city whose temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius at the height of summer! Other impressive developments in the city include the Palm Islands, which offer a mix of private residential homes alongside top-class hotels, retail and commercial areas, and more are being built annually.



In short, the financial restrictions being put in place elsewhere in the world appear to be having little impact on the optimism of Dubai leisure and tourism chiefs. As such, they are intent on proceeding at full steam ahead with plans to make the city one of the world’s best, and no expense will be spared.