Dubai’s reimagined tourism landscape
Dubai is steadfastly building toward its goal of becoming a top global tourism destination by 2033. At the same time, it has begun shifting its approach by placing more emphasis on cultural attractions and affordability.
DUBAI — On a Saturday evening in early June, I had the privilege of seeing the “Hans Zimmer Live” tour at the Coca-Cola Arena here, where the two-time Oscar-winning film composer was appearing.
The show featured thunderous versions of Zimmer classics, including scores from “The Lion King,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and a personal favorite of mine, “Gladiator.” It was an orchestral concert unlike any I’ve seen, combining a mix of the usual string, wind and percussion instruments with the electric offerings of a rock show, all of it augmented by a digital light display.
Speckled throughout the show were touches of humor and insight from Zimmer, who alternated between roles as emcee and member of the orchestra.
It was during one of these interludes that the maestro offered some prescient commentary. Dubai, he said, is a place he loves because amid the violence and war that is ripping apart various patches of the globe, this city in the Arabian Desert manages to be a peaceful melting pot of a dizzying array of nationalities and ethnicities.
Indeed, the remarkable ascent of Dubai from a little-known city within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to a center of entertainment, shopping, beach tourism and commerce has come in lockstep with its evolution into one of the world’s truly global cities.
Over the past four decades, the ruling family methodically built Dubai’s tourism base with an emphasis on luxury, major events and the types of over-the-top attractions that one might otherwise associate with Las Vegas, minus the casinos. During that time, Dubai saw tourism visitor numbers increase from approximately 374,000 in 1982, according to the widely cited 2006 journal study “Tourism in Dubai: Overcoming Barriers to Destination Development,” to more than 17 million last year, according to government statistics. And numbers are rising again this year, with visitation through June up 9% from 2023.
Dubai tourism has grown even more dramatically than its population, which now tops 3.6 million, up from 250,000 in 1980.
But as the largest of the UAE’s seven emirates in terms of population pushes toward a goal of becoming a top-three global destination by 2033, Dubai has begun shifting its approach to appeal to a wider base of tourists, in particular by placing more emphasis on cultural attractions and affordability.
Now faced with new competition from its wide-pocketed neighbor Saudi Arabia, which has emerged from its reclusive past with plans to invest $800 billion in tourism through 2030, tourism officials believe a broadened offering will help Dubai meet its ambitious goals.
The theme park approach
To be sure, extravagant modernity will remain Dubai’s biggest draw.
In a 2019 paper, “Reinventing Tourism: The Dubai Phenomenon,” Angela Anthonisz, a professor in the tourism and visitor economy management program at the University of Cumbria in England, described Dubai as a “hyper-real” destination that has taken a theme park approach to its tourism development. Dubai lays claim to the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. Deep Dive Dubai is the world’s deepest swimming pool. The city’s indoor skiing venue also features a penguin colony. The Dubai Mall, with some 1,300 shops, is among the largest malls on Earth.
Dubai is also famous for eye-catching upscale hotels. The sleek Jumeirah Burj al Arab, which rises 56 stories from an artificial island of its own just offshore, was perhaps the most iconic image as the city rose to global fame during the early part of this century.
Overall, Dubai’s inventory of five-star hotel rooms, as reported by its Department of Economy and Tourism, amounts to nearly 53,000 rooms, or slightly more than one-third of its total hotel inventory of nearly 151,000 rooms.
Still, a shift is underway. Hotels in the one-star to three-star range now account for nearly one-fifth of Dubai’s hotel stock, and officials speak hopefully about broadening the demographic of the incoming market by stepping up the promotion of heritage-based tourism as well as by increasing the affordable options for families.
This summer, for example, the Dubai government led a Kids Go Free promotion, under which up to two children get free meals and activities at participating properties and enjoy complimentary admission to attractions such as Legoland and Ski Dubai.
In an interview last month, Shahab Shayan, the regional director for Asia-Pacific operations at the Department of Economy and Tourism, talked up the old city of Dubai, where locals and tourists alike can still commute across Dubai Creek, its historical heart, in no-frills wooden water taxis called abras.
“People have this image of tall towers in Dubai and think that’s what Dubai is all about,” Shayan said. “But once they come and visit the city, they see its different parts. They see the skyscrapers on one end, but they also see the old part of Dubai with its humble beginnings.”
Shayan explained that Dubai’s goals remain ambitious, including the Dubai D33 target of doubling GDP by 2033, buoyed in no small part by tourism. He’s nonplussed by Saudi Arabia’s growth plans, which include adding more than 250,000 hotel rooms by 2030.
Dubai sees the Saudi buildup as an opportunity to benefit from growth in tourism across the Arabian Peninsula, he said.
Christian Koch, director of research for the nonpartisan Gulf Research Center think tank and a former Dubai resident, also does not expect Saudi Arabia to erode Dubai’s market share.
“Dubai is simply still at least a decade ahead of all of its neighbors, and they will benefit from that,” he said. “Saudi Arabia, yes, they are trying to open up. Massive spending is going on. But it will take them some time to have this culture that Dubai already has in how to run a successful tourism industry.”
The biggest sights
I experienced a mix of Dubai’s marquee attractions and cultural offerings during a weeklong visit in June, supported in part by Visit Dubai.
At the Burj Khalifa, which rises more than a half-mile into the sky, I took in the 360-degree view from the observation areas on floors 124 and 125. (For an extra fee, visitors can ascend to an observation lounge on levels 152 to 154) The horizon was hazy that day, a phenomenon caused in part by the mix of blowing sand and summer humidity, but which Anthonisz, who first visited Dubai around 1980, said has gotten worse with pollution.
Still, the deck afforded views of the Persian Gulf, the skyline and the desert in the distance.
On the ground, outside the connecting Dubai Mall, I tilted my camera against the sun to capture the Burj Khalifa in its full height. The sleek, futuristic structure glimmered against the blue sky and the artificial Burj Lake — together forming one of the most remarkable fully human-constructed cityscapes I’ve seen.
Modernism would be a theme of several of the Dubai attractions I visited.
Inside Dubai Mall, I toured the newly opened Arte Museum, an immersive, nature-themed digital experience that is part of a growing franchise that extends from South Korea to Las Vegas. Most memorable to me was the “Flower Camellia” exhibit, which combined digital artistry with sound and scent to conjure the sensation of being in a garden of pink camellias.
The Museum of the Future, which is housed in an oval-shaped architectural marvel, asked me to imagine a version of the year 2071, with the surface of the moon housing a massive solar energy station and wind-resistant and fire-resistant trees acting as buffers against climate change. Meanwhile, the museum’s fascinating “Tomorrow Today” exhibit showcases potentially world-changing technologies that are already in development. One that especially struck me is a biodegradable alternative to plastic made from seaweed.
Another uber-modern attraction is the Dubai Frame, a gold-plated observation tower that is hailed as the world’s largest picture frame. It’s mostly a viewing deck that is nearly 500 feet tall. But the attraction, which was completed in 2018, also bills itself as a bridge between the city’s past and present, with Old Town to its north and new Dubai to its south.
Turning seaward, I spent my last afternoon in Dubai at the Banyan Tree Dubai resort, a newly rebranded luxury beachfront property on the artificial Bluewaters Island. I enjoyed a late afternoon swimming and feeling gluttonous in the shadow of the world’s largest Ferris wheel as I snacked on a tropical fruit bowl that included passion fruit, dragon fruit and a lychee-like fruit called rambutan among its offerings.
But my days of touring also had a cultural emphasis, offering glimpses of an older, more traditional Dubai.
Traditional explorations
One afternoon, I dined on Emirati food at the highly regarded Arabian Tea House, an air-conditioned space with a floor of finely crushed gravel, a thatched ceiling and trees growing inside that gives it the feel of being outdoors. I sat across from my Sri Lankan guide while we were served by a waitress from Cameroon — an interesting reminder, I noted at the time, that Dubai’s growth has been enabled by imported workers. Foreigners comprise 92% of the population, government statistics show.
Outside the restaurant is the Al Fahidi neighborhood, a small historical district that dates to the 1890s and was once slated for demolition. Instead, it has been targeted for restoration, and I diverted around some of these projects as I strolled the narrow pathways.
Abutting Al Fahidi lies Dubai Creek, which is flanked on both sides by traditional souks. A short boat ride on a wooden abra costs about 25 cents and brought me to the larger of the two souk districts, where spices, gold and textiles dominate alongside tourist trinkets. With my guide’s help, I walked away satisfied with the price I negotiated for Persian saffron and a cashmere shawl birthday present for my mother.
Though small in comparison to the vastness of modern Dubai, this was indeed a different side of the city.
My favorite excursion, however, took place about an hour outside town, on an 85-square-mile desert preserve populated by oryx and gazelles. The evening-long tour with operator Platinum Heritage Dubai began with a safari in a vintage Land Rover. Next, backed by a rich orange desert sunset, we were treated to a falconry display, watching the powerful raptor fly at more than 50 mph during a training exercise in which it targeted a birdlike lure. We capped off the evening with an outdoor feast. I tried camel meat and camel milk for the first time — and I’d happily have both again.
Throughout the tour, our guide offered tidbits about the nomadic Bedouin lifestyle, which involved herding goats and camels and eking a living out of the desert.
But the wealth and urbanization that began with the discovery of oil in 1958 has spelled the end of the Bedouin way of life in the UAE. Today, hunting is banned throughout the country.
As much as I enjoyed my experiences in old Dubai and the desert preserve, the small size of the historic district and the disappearance of the UAE’s Bedouin lifestyle makes me think that heritage tourism will remain a relatively minor part of Dubai’s offering.
In fact, said Anthonisz, the University of Cumbria professor, it’s hard to precisely peg Dubai culture these days, considering its mixed population of over 200 nationalities, of which Emiratis comprise a small minority.
But as Dubai’s past has been mostly overwhelmed by its present, a new culture is nevertheless emerging — one that is based on innovation and evolution. It’s a culture that is flexible to change yet remains grounded in certain respects by the bedrock hereditary customs familiar to the region. Indeed, the autocratic leadership of the ruling family, including current ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has facilitated the city’s laser-like focus on growth, largely unimpeded by the challenges that accompany political dissent.
Koch, of the Gulf Research Center, said he expects Dubai to forge forward as a globally recognized luxury destination, developing novel and interesting ideas, making pragmatic adjustments as necessary and taking risks.
One example: Dubai Airport is the second-busiest in the world. But this year the city announced plans to build a $35 billion facility that upon completion will be five times the size of the current airport.
“I think it’s in their DNA,” Koch said. “I think they will continue to go full speed ahead.”
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