The Tourism Industry of Dubai - Essay Example

The Tourism Industry Introduction The tourism industry is one of the fastest growing industries of the world. The importance of tourism has increased considerably over the years where an increasing proportion of population tends to depend on this particular industry segment. In this context, the tourism industry of Dubai would be worth discussing. The tourism industry of Dubai is often regarded as one of the biggest and most popular industries in the world. Annually a large number of tourists visit Dubai to explore its beauty and iconic architecture. In spite of being an energy production and refining industry based economy, Dubai is also dependent on the tourism sector. Notably, Dubai is also considered as one of the most preferred shopping destinations of the world, which has facilitated the place as a potential and competitive tourism market. It is worth mentioning in this context that the tallest building of the world, which is around 818 meters in height, as well as the world’s largest shopping mall, is also located in Dubai (Burjuman, 2012; Davis, 2007). Furthermore, it has been observed that Dubai is also quite popular for the underwater hotel called Hydropolis, which is one of its kinds. It has been analysed by various experts that these aspects make Dubai one of the most sought after tourist destinations of the world. Additionally, in the context of the rich architecture of Dubai, the design of the Palm Jumeirah Island would be worth mentioning. It is one of the biggest artificial islands that have been ever built. Because of its vast scale and a unique shape (i.e. a palm tree), it has been noted that this island would be visible from space even with the naked eye and has already been attracting a vast number of tourists from the global tourism market. Apart from these aspects, Dubai is also well known for its deserts. Additionally, Dubai was also built with a vision to create a world class destination for sports, thus attractive as a major recreation hub for sport tourism as well (Alderman, 2010; Davis, 2007). However, there are certain other issues that have been strongly affecting the tourism industry of Dubai, the most significant being the environmental and the terrorism problems. Gigantism engaging huge amounts of money had been the vision of tourism in Dubai owing to which many prominent projects of tourism development have raised significant threat to the scarcity of natural resources. Apart from environmental threats, the city is also affected by regular governmental intervention from the national and international levels, which is often termed as the ‘War Zone’. It is worth mentioning in this context that US military forces had been operating in Dubai, using the city as a vital base to perform spying activities on Iran, which has significantly influenced tourism rates within the city. Money laundering has also been a mostly debated issue in Dubai. Moreover, Dubai is also criticised for the slavery related issues. Behind the ultra modern and luxurious hotels of the city, there lies a dark world where slavery is still being practiced. Issues related to forced labour are also seemed to be quite significant in the city. Irrespective of such issues, Dubai had been able to maintain its peace avoiding any considerable terrorist attacks and rendering due scope to attract a variety of tourists from around the world (Davis, 2007; Keane & McGeehan, 2008). Emphasising these characteristics of the tourism market in Dubai, the paper would intend to evaluate the extent to which the city deciphers or rather illustrates the features of modern urban tourism. The intention of the paper will be thus concentrated on connoting if Dubai presents a new paradigm of urban tourism. Discussion Illustration of Dubai as a Tourist Place Dubai is known internationally as one of the premier tourist destinations of the world, especially among the high-income and elite group of tourists. It is also regarded as one of the richest places in the world where Dubai is always desired for mass tourism. There is apparently an endless variety of vacation opportunities in this part of the world with positive intervention and support from both government and industries. Notably, the government of UAE aims at developing Dubai as the chief tourist destinations in the world, making use of its unique tourism features operating as a differentiated tourist hub and thus obtaining the competitive advantages of almost no close substitutes. The place is considered as the jewel of UAE because of the fact that it offers luxury, sumptuousness and outstanding facilities to the tourists with a magnificent blend of tradition and modern cultures. It has been observed that outstanding hotels, shopping malls and skyscrapers are the well known characteristics of Dubai. It has been further viewed that Dubai offers great opportunities and verities for all potential tourists in accordance with the taste of the people visiting the city. It has also been noted that the shopping malls of Emirates situated in this place provide a variety of options to the customers from fashion to home furnishing. Furthermore, Dubai also focuses on developing its sports tourism industry sector facilitating various sports through Ski Dubai resort and other similar amenities (Henderson, 2006). Dubai is also known for its beaches, hotels and resorts. Records depict that more than 5 million people visit Dubai every year and the number is expected to rise considerably in the coming years. Another important and unique place to be visited in Dubai is the Palm Jumeirah Island. It is an artificial island constructed in the Atlantic Sea and has been attracting a large numbers of tourists from around the world. Although struggling because of various hurdles such as criticisms from environment researchers, conservatives and others hampering its completion process, the project has been an overall success for the city to move a step ahead in the international tourism market (Jamal, 2010). Owing to its unique characteristics, Dubai is often considered as one of the most potential and competitive tourism hubs in the world. It is worth mentioning in this context that a large proportion of the national income of UAE is contributed by the tourism industry of Dubai. The standard of living and the adoption of the advanced technology have further aided Dubai in attaining a position in the list of the most distinctive tourism markets of the world. Dubai is also considered as the shopping capital of the world. There are numerous shopping malls in the city depicting an urbanised cultural prospect in the nation. Also, it has been further observed that the uniqueness of Dubai as a tourism market can be measured by the large number of amusement parks, existence of a few of the tallest buildings in the world along with a few astonishing architectural illustrations representing a notion of dynamism and gigantism. In this regard, the aspect of gigantism has over the years almost engulfed the thought process of the entire city as it has developed an infatuation regarding the creation of bigger architectures and monuments which at times can be quite hard on the bottom line of the nation in terms of financial aspect. Moreover, the place is also considered as unique owing to the presence of a few top listed world class hotels offering lifetime experiences to its elite group of customers. In this context it has been noted that the hotels of Hydropolis, which are fully well furnished underwater hotels, are the first of its kind in the world. This state of the art structure of the place attracts tourists by offering them a spectacular view of the marine life. These hotels are also facilitated by underwater trains with clear glass that enables them to experience a closer view of the marine life. Apart from the aforementioned features, the deserts of Dubai also provide a unique opportunity for the tourists to explore its beauty. This particular aspect could well be considered as an exceptional characteristic of Dubai (Jamal, 2010; Davis, 2006). Illustration of Dubai as a New Paradigm From the analysis of the various aspects and features of Dubai, it can be affirmed that the place has been rapidly growing as one of the leading tourist destinations in the international tourism market facilitated by the positive interventions from the government and the industries. Recent records depict that there are more than 5 million tourists travelling in the place every year. The government of UAE is committed to increase this to 15 million in the coming years. The most apparent dimensions of the Dubai tourism industry had been the dynamism and gigantism concepts depicted through its complex and breathtaking engineering skills and marvels (Jamal, 2010). In 2008, the urban culture in Dubai was facilitated by the opening of the world’s largest mall (i.e. the Dubai Mall) allowing a huge number of tourists and also offering the benefit of better capital flow within the nation. Since its opening, there have been more than 635 retailers operating in the mall. Studies and statistical reports depict that since then, there has been a considerable increase witnessed in the aggregate number of visitors in the city (Jamal, 2010). Moreover, in 2012, the tallest hotel in Dubai with around 1,608 rooms was inaugurated. Apart from these establishments, there was also a large percentage of increase in the number of hotels over the recent years, which has certainly contributed towards the flourish of the city as an urban tourism market. Additionally, the city has also enhanced its hospitality facilities over the years with the virtues of its promptness in adopting new technologies which have attracted a large number of tourists from around the world (Home & William, 2012). Altogether, with reference to the recent performances of the city as a tourist hub, it can be stated that Dubai is quite likely to continue developing itself in terms of technological progress, differentiation in the variety of tourism services and also in terms of political as well as industrial stability, which will further encourage tourists from almost every dimension of the world to visit the place much more than ever before. Furthermore, owing to the fact that apart from being oil based economy, UAE is also regarded as one of the major tourism destinations of the world. It can be forecasted that governmental and economic influences on this particular sector will be positive in the near future. It is worth mentioning in this regard that a large percentage of UAE’s national income depends on the tourism industry of Dubai, which not only facilitates a huge proportion of foreign direct investment but also assists the flourishing of national industries and therefore ensures industrial stability within the country. Hence, it can be assumed that the future scope of the tourism industry is quite positive in the context of Dubai. Based on its recent performances, in a few years, the city has been expecting the number of tourist to increase from 5 million per year to 15 million per year with the aid of national, international and industrial communities. One of the most unique characteristics offered by this particular tourism destination can be identified in terms that Dubai presents a careful mixture of features in operating the functions preserving both the Islamic and modern ethical factors and therefore, segregating itself from any other Islamic tourist destinations where either urbanism is overpowered by traditional culture or vice-versa. In other words, preserving traditional concerns, the city has invested in various projects to make Dubai more luxurious and comfortable as well as desiring to the tourists of all over the world, contributing towards a new form of tourism in the near feature (Jamal, 2010; Davis, 2006). However, there are certain aspects that are continuously been observed to be quite critical issues in context of the development of Dubai. In this regard, slavery is one of the major issues. It has been observed that the practice of slavery in the city was abolished way back in 1963, but in-spite of that there are still places in the city the system still exist. The issue is despite being largely unexplored, it is strongly condemned by the international community. The place is accused of being using children in different kind of heavy labour activities which is against the law. Slavery is considered as a crime against the humankind and Dubai, a city of such stature should not be accused in terms of such aspects (Keane & McGeehan, 2008). Other than slavery, it has also been recognised that workers who work in several big projects of the city have been underpaid and at times are unskilled. They work for long hours and receive only a minimum wage. The working condition provided is also not good and the government is also not concerned about the health of these people in the workplace. These are the crucial issues that the city constantly needs to deal with (Iverson, n.d.). Apparently, it has been observed that there are several countries that have been developing at a rapid speed and attracting tourists from all over the world, such as Singapore. It has been observed that a large percentage of the Singaporean economy is dependent on the tourism industry similar to the characteristics witnessed in Dubai. When comparing the two tourist markets, i.e. the Singaporean tourism market and the Dubai tourism market, it can be observed that the tourist percentage of Singapore was recorded to be higher than that of Dubai in 2010. However, in terms of shopping, Dubai has been outdoing Singapore by a considerable margin. It can be argued in this context that Singapore is a more expensive place than Dubai when it comes to tourism services. It is worth mentioning that both countries have their unique sets of advantages that would attract the tourist. Considering the fact that Dubai has already been established as one of the premier traveller destinations in the international tourism market, it would not be easier for Singapore to become a tourist destination similar to that of Dubai in the coming years. Hence, it can be presumed that in its near future, Dubai will have to witness a significant rise in competition when operating in the international tourism industry. Countering the competitive effects, it has also been noticed that Abu Dhabi has been presenting itself as a new and improved Dubai (Parsa et al., 2002). Notably, for years, Abu Dhabi has been the largest city of UAE. However, with the lavish growth of Dubai, the place had been overshadowed till the present time. The place has a beauty of its own, which attracts visitors although it has been negatively affected due to its unfriendly climatic conditions. Also, it has been further noted that the place is quite expensive as compared to Dubai. With due regard to these limitations, the city has been aimed to be developed as a new Dubai, which further signifies the influences likely to be witnessed by Dubai not only in terms of international competition but also in terms of national competition (Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, 2010). Thus, it can be stated that potentiality of a new Dubai is quite high in the near future. Conclusion From the overall analysis of the paper it could be summarised that the tourism industry of Dubai is among the most competitive, reputed, diversified and consequently successful industries of the world. Owing to its versatility in terms of engineering, urbanisation and traditional magnificence, Dubai has been highly preferred by tourists from all over the world from various dimensions ranging from sports to leisure and business tourism sectors. Dubai hosts the most unique and impressive buildings of the world along with the largest shopping mall in the world. In terms of exclusivity, the Palm Jumeirah Island of Dubai is the biggest and only artificial island of its kind in the world. Apart from these unique features, it has been analysed that Dubai is considered as one of the premier shopping destinations of the world, satisfying the complex and varied tastes of people globally. However, it has also been witnessed that the city is quite likely to face a significant rise in competition not only in the national but also in the international contexts in the near future, owing to which certain measures needs to be taken, which will act as a facilitator of its long term growth. References Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, Tourism. Home. [Online] Available at: http://tcaabudhabi.ae/en/tourism/Pages/default.aspx [Assessed 6 April, 2013]. Alderman, L., 2010. Dubai Faces Environmental Problems after Growth. The New York Times, pp. 1-4. Burjuman, 2012. Dubai City Guide. Luxos, pp. 1-11. Davis, M., 2006. Fear and money in Dubai. 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