Development of Dubai as a Tourist Destination - Essay Example

? Case Study Evaluation Table of Contents Development of Dubai as a tourist destination 3 Potential issues involved during the development of tourism5 Comparison of tourism development between Dubai and Turkey 7 SWOT Analysis 7 Main threats for sustainable development of tourism in Dubai 8 Sustainable Tourism Strategy- Policies and Initiatives 10 Reference 12 Bibliography 13 Development of Dubai as a tourist destination Despite the prevalence of a number of unfavorable circumstances Dubai had developed has emerged as a favorite tourist destination in recent years. This is been on account of the heavy investment in its tourism sector by the Dubai authorities as one of the major elements of its program for economic diversification. The rise of this sector has been so dramatic and rapid since the recent years that now it appears in the brochures of city breaks and long haul operators across the world. As per the latest reports presented by the World Travel and Tourism Council, The sector has been demonstrating annual growth of 14% and also comprises of numerous tourism and leisure related projects which are worth more than ?35 billion. It is also important to mention that the tourism sector in Dubai comprises of 22.6% of the annual GDP of the Emirates (Dubai Update, 2008, p.1). The most important and prominent reason for the development of the sector is the location of the Dubai. Dubai is located between two of the major world tourism markets, namely, Asia and Europe. It does not take more than six or seven hours to fly from these regions to Dubai. This is coupled with the fact that is the home base of the Emirates which is one of the best airlines in the world. Accessibility accounts for one of the key factors for travelers and the location of Dubai at the gateway towards the Middle East provides major advantage to the region in terms of attracting visitors in the region. Coupled with sunshine round the year, world class infrastructure, high quality of services and also the best facilities of spas, restaurants, hotels and shops, Dubai accounts for an extremely popular and attractive destination for the ever increasing number of tourists. The place has been extremely effective in attracting tourists from across the globe which also accounts for one of the major reasons for the development of the tourism sector in the region. The increase in the number of tourists visiting the place since 1982 gets revealed through the following figure. Figure 1: International tourist arrivals in Dubai between 1982 and 2004 (Source: Henderson, 2006, p.3) Tourists have gradually gained extensive knowledge about the place and have developed a favorable impression about the place too. This has generated motivation among the tourists to visit the place and stay in a place which offers safety and security. Authorities have also played a major role in developing the safety and security of the place and made huge public investments also. They have also actively implemented pro-tourism policies which have further provided a stimulus for the growth of the place through tourism. As apparent from the figure the rate of tourist visitors have remained substantially high in the region. The huge developmental potential of the place has also driven its tourism growth rapidly. As per the information provided by the WTCC, Middle East accounts for the only region in the world which achieved a growth of 7% in its tours and travel sector. This accounts for a total of approximately ?125 billion. This growth has also been able to generate and sustain 10.3% of employment of the region which corresponds to generation of roughly 5.7 million numbers of jobs (Dubai Update, 2008, p.2). Potential issues involved during the development of tourism Political and economic stabilities are few of the primary issues which could retard the progress of the tourism sector of any nation. Instability in the above two aspects might lead to volatility and disturbances which would deter not only tourists from visiting the place but would also keep investors from making investments in the region. Dubai is a part of UAE and the conditions prevailing at the place are influenced by both the federation and the emirate governments. Income coming from the oil has made Abu Dhabi the economic powerhouse and also the ?nancier of the federation. This has provided the small emirates with the living standard and an amount of security which would not be otherwise available to them. On the other hand the other emirates provide Abu Dhabi with a geographic and demographic collective strength which it would not have acting alone. The region has enjoyed long periods of uninterrupted political order, stability and continuity which have triggered massive economic progress, prosperity and development (Dubai Update, 2008, p.5). Despite being a small oil exporting city, Dubai has been able to make rapid progress in the field of tourism which stands as the most prominent sector in the city today. Within a matter of four decades, Dubai has been able to shift its focus from gold trading and fishing to the development of tourism, mass communication, finance and shipping. However, this is quite unlike many of the economic peers of the region which have only been successful in developing completely oil dependent economies which have even become stagnant after a while. On the other hand Dubai has diversified its economy and emerged as a politically stable point of tourism and commerce. However, the rapid development of tourism has brought with it a number of issues and problems. The problem is that Dubai has taken a completely different path of development from the other Gulf regions which was least expected by the regional analysts. While walking through the streets of Dubai, visitors would notice that most commonly the English language would be used and not Arabic. Moreover, most of the people walking through the streets would be South Asians and very few of the Arabs would be found. This kind of experience is considered to be surprising from the perspective of the citizens in Dubai. The nationals comprise of a very small proportion of the overall population in Dubai. As compared to the official population of the city, which is 1,112, 000, only 90,000 comprise of the national population which is only 8% of the total. This reflects the extensive of the city on foreign labor. Also the fast pace of tourism development has triggered complete westernization of the culture of the place. The city has been losing its local culture completely and has been inculcating the foreign culture rapidly. Also the top positions in any organizations are occupied by the foreigners who are also instigating the development of the western culture in the city. The city’s shopping culture had been spreading rapidly and the growth of shopping malls has generated the brand consciousness among consumers which are primarily foreign brands. The extensive celebration of international and foreign consumerism is taken by surprise by many of its own citizens and has irritated them also (DeNicola, 2005, p.6). Comparison of tourism development between Dubai and Turkey SWOT Analysis The development of tourism in Dubai and Turkey is compared and contrasted in terms of their potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The strengths of both regions lie on the fact that tourism has been adopted as an alternative strategy of economic growth. Moreover, it also led to a rapid social change which has encouraged Europeanization and westernization. This has been effective in creating a favorable place in the eyes of the western culture and citizens. In Turkey this has been especially effective in making a place for the nation in the European Union. In Dubai, a lot of tourists from the west has been attracted by the western culture and shopping culture. One of the major weaknesses of tourism development in Turkey is that it has led to spatial growth in which there has been more concentration of tourism in the south western region. This has been primarily because of the fact that the region has great natural resources and cultural sites. As a result of the above factors the Government of Turkey has been able to develop tourism in the region rapidly and successfully (Tosun, Timothy & Ozturk, 2003, p.25). On the other hand the tourism development in Dubai has been uniform throughout the entire city. The opportunities on both regions are lucrative for the development of tourism. In Turkey there are minimum legal restrictions which would prevent the local people from earning the benefits of the Government’s generous incentives towards tourism. Deliberate consultancy services and help was forwarded to the local residents to continue their operations and expansion of their traditional businesses which were more aligned and compatible with the principles of development of tourism (Tosun, Timothy & Ozturk, 2003, p.11). On the other hand Dubai faces the location advantage which can be considered as an opportunity which can be exploited to its benefit. Moreover both regions have been demonstrating huge inflow of foreign tourist arrivals which have consistently increasing over the years. Both regions also have confronted with major threats from the development of tourism in the regions respectively. In Turkey, the Government has been too much concerned with the establishment of tourism regions, centers and zones. The allocation of tourism incentives to the pre-determined regions reflects the high concern of the Government to develop the same. However, too much focus on such issues has only been eroding the importance of other developmental concerns, especially from the view of the regional balanced development. The development of tourism has been complimented with the rise of regional imbalance and disparities (Tosun, Timothy & Ozturk, 2003, p.24). However, the kind of threat which Dubai is facing is different. In this region, too much emphasis on westernization has been posing threat for the region of losing its original culture and traditions. The arrival of foreign tourists also cannot be controlled which is aggravating the situation even further. The place has been demonstrating a significant amount of foreign citizens and a depleting percentage of local citizens. Main threats for sustainable development of tourism in Dubai In the recent years, tourism development has evolved as the ubiquitous vehicle for the sake of economic diversification and development for both the developed and the developing nations of the world. Dubai is the most prominent example in this regard. In such a situation it has been increasingly becoming dependant on tourism and has not been looking towards other potential sectors which can be exploited. Thus the more developmental activities are getting undermined and ignored. Rather it can be perceived as culturally undesirable and economically unnecessary. Also the tourism development in Dubai is more focused towards quantity rather than quality which are a drawback for its sustainable development. 20 years ago Dubai was seen as a complete desert devoid of any facilities or infrastructure. However, it has transformed itself completely with countless numbers of hotels, theme parks, artificial islands. All this has been done only for the sake of attracting tourists from across the world and to meet their present demand. However, this massive and rapid development is bound to have major negative impacts on its socio-cultural and economic aspects. Some of these drawbacks may have to be attended immediately for avoiding any more damage (Sharpley, 2002, p.1-5). Despite the factor that the tourism sector has faced rapid progress, the global economic downturn has significantly affected its operations and some of the major projects on tourism have begun defaulting. For a long time the sector had operated extremely well and the number of arrivals had shown a dramatic increase by 5% in 2009. However, this was done at the cost of slashing the hotel rates dramatically and undertaking of aggressive marketing strategies. According to the city’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, the number of visitors amounting to 3.85 million came to Dubai within the first six months in 2009. Before ten years, the emirate had received three million numbers of visitors in a year, while before twenty years only 600,000 numbers of people had made visit to the region within a complete year. The number of hotel and hotels rooms has been increasing fast over the years; however, the occupancy rates have been showing a gradual decline subsequently. Consequently the revenue has also been declining. The revenue earned per rooms available declined by 36% and the rates have been declining further in recent years. Recently, even the 5 star rooms offer accommodations for less than $100 per night. Most important the city has lost its dependence on oil and natural gas. It earns only 6% of the entire revenue from the oil and natural gas sector. Presently it is difficult to predict about the sustainability of the sector since the number of hotels have expanded without control which has not complimented by a proportionate number of visitors. The added number of rooms has been exerting excessive pressure on all the other operators. It is expected that the occupancies would stabilize but the room rates are likely to remain low which means that the earnings from tourism is also likely to remain low. Sustainable Tourism Strategy- Policies and Initiatives Following are the policies and strategies for attaining sustainability of the tourism sector in Dubai. The strengthening of the tourism sector would first and foremost include improving its infrastructure. This has to be done using extensive research and developmental activities. The elimination of infrastructural problems in the densely populated regions is the key issue with regards to the growth of the sector. This also includes exploiting the untapped potential with the cooperation of the local government of the region. Transportation is of prime importance as it acts as a bridge which connects the tourists to the tourist spots. This requires integrating the different modes of transport to make the sector healthy and high yielding. It can also include the introduction of new modes of tourism by the building of inland leisure and other recreational and tourism activities. Efforts must be driven towards promoting the natural and historical assets of the place and at the same time maintaining the natural environmental conditions (Ministry of Culture nd Tourism, 2007, p.32). The sector has also to make investments in marketing and promotional strategies. New promotional strategies must be incorporated as per the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the industry. It is possible to establish a sustainable image not only by the maintenance of competitive power but also through the preservation of the market. The main concern should be based on the public relation tool for the sector. Public relation activities are found to be most authentic and accepted as reliable sources of promotional strategies. Efforts must also be driven towards tightening the cooperation between the governments and the entities of the private sector. Promotional strategies must also include using the latest communication technologies for reaching to the people. Extensive focus must be drawn towards branding and credibility. The efforts for promotion must be customized for certain products that are chose to be marketed. It must not be based on mass promotional strategies. Efforts must also be driven towards the products and quality based on the destinations. The promotional strategies must also include branding at the regional, national and the site levels. The strategies must be stressed on modern values and must also seek to maintain the original and the national values (Ministry of Culture nd Tourism, 2007, p.33). Reference DeNicola, N. (2005). Dubai’s political and economic development: an oasis tn the desert?. [Pdf]. Available at: http://library.williams.edu/theses/pdf.php?id=48. [Accessed on June 22, 2011]. Dubai Update. (2008). Dubai confirmed as world-class tourism destination by latest report from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.dubaiupdate.co.uk/downloads/pressreleases08/Dubai%20tourism%20and%20GDP%20-%20press%20release%20FINAL%20030408.pdf. [Accessed on June 21, 2011]. Henderson, J. C. (2006). Tourism in Dubai: Overcoming Barriers to Destination Development. International journal of tourism research. Int. J. Tourism Res. 8. [Pdf]. Available at: http://belkcollegeofbusiness.uncc.edu/dcread/MBAD7090/Papers/Henderson2006.pdf. [Accessed on June 21, 2011]. Ministry of Culture nd Tourism. (2007). Tourism Strategy of Turkey. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.kulturturizm.gov.tr/genel/text/eng/TST2023.pdf. [Accessed on June 22, 2011]. Sharpley, R. (2002). The Challenges of Economic Diversification through Tourism: the case of Abu Dhabi. International Journal of Tourism Research. Int. J. Tourism Res. 4, 221-235. [Pdf]. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jtr.378/pdf. [Accessed on June 22, 2011]. Tosun, C., Timothy, D. J. & Ozturk, Y. (2003). Tourism Growth, National Development and Regional Inequality in Turkey. Journal of sustainable tourism. Vol. 11, No. 2&3. [Pdf]. Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.97.3669&rep=rep1&type=pdf. [Accessed on June 22, 2011]. Bibliography Gossling, S. (2009). Sustainable Tourism Futures: Perspectives on Systems, Restructuring and Innovations. Taylor & Francis. Kandari, O. P. & Chandra, A. (2004). Tourism, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, Volume 5. Gyan Publishing House. Richards, D. & Hall, G. (2003). Tourism and sustainable community development. Routledge. Swarbrooke, J. (1999). Sustainable tourism management. CABI. Read More