Holidays - Dubai

Hospitality has been Dubai’s tradition for centuries. Today, Dubai extends this welcome to holiday makers as well as business visitors, offering facilities of the highest international standards combined with the charm and adventure of Arabia - an exceptional blend of modern city and timeless desert. With top class hotels, superb facilities for a variety of sports and leisure activities and excellent shopping, Dubai has something to offer everyone. Moreover, the emirate is friendly, safe and virtually crime-free.  Dubai is situated on the Persian Gulf coast of the United Arab Emirates and is roughly at sea level. The emirate of Dubai shares borders with Abu Dhabi in the south, Sharjah in the northeast, and the Sultanate of Oman in the southeast. Dubai's government operates within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, and has been ruled by the Al Maktoum family since 1833. The current ruler, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is also the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. A leader with vision, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has transformed Dubai to what it is today. His company owns and operates The Emirates Airlines, Burj Al Arab Hotel, Emirates Towers, Jumeirah Towers and numerous other establishments all over Dubai. Although Dubai's economy was built on the back of the oil industry, revenues from oil and natural gas currently account for less than 6% of the emirate's revenues.

Tourism is an important part of the Dubai government's strategy to maintain the flow of foreign cash into the emirate. Dubai's lure for tourists is based mainly on shopping, but also on its possession of other ancient and modern attractions. As of 2007, Dubai was the 8th most visited city of the world. Dubai is expected to accommodate over 15 million tourists by 2015. Dubai is the most populous emirate of the seven emirates of United Arab Emirates. Dubai has been called the "shopping capital of the Middle East". Dubai alone has more than 70 shopping malls, including the world's 7th largest shopping mall, Dubai Mall. The city draws large numbers of shopping tourists from countries within the region and from as far as Eastern Europe, Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. While boutiques, some electronics shops, department stores and supermarkets operate on a fixed-price basis, most other outlets consider friendly negotiation a way of life.