Located along the shoreline of the Persian Gulf and emerging from the sands of the Arabian Desert is one of the world’s fastest-growing cities—Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The population of Dubai is around 3 million, of which 85 percent are expatriates and only 15 percent are native Emiratis. People from over 200 nationalities reside in Dubai, and a majority of the city’s population is in the age group of 25 to 54 years because of this mostly young working expatriate demographic.
Although the city now brims with skyscrapers and boasts some of the world’s most amazing structures, it used to be little more than a fishing village, and its people depended for their livelihood on fishing, pearl diving, boat building, and providing lodging to gold, spice, and textile traders journeying across the desert. Gold, spices, and traditional textiles are still the cultural ornaments that represent Dubai’s history and are popular in their souqs. Traditionally, these souqs were open markets in narrow streets, and they have been showcased in many tourism videos (like Dubai Tourism’s award-winning #BeMyGuest campaign, which we discuss later) as an ingrained part of the city’s heritage with special cultural and economic significance for its people.
With the discovery of oil in the 1950s and 1960s, Dubai’s development and economy received a huge boost, and various projects were initiated to establish the city as a leading trading hub. This started Dubai’s transformation from a small port city into a modern, cosmopolitan city. On December 2, 1971, the Emirate of Dubai joined its five neighboring emirates—Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, and Fujairah—to form the United Arab Emirates. The seventh emirate, Ras Al Khaimah, joined the federation one year later. Since its formation, the country has been progressing at a rapid pace and its leadership has undertaken various developmental efforts to reduce its dependence on oil and diversify its economy.
Over the last four decades, Dubai has also successfully built a mix of diversified economic drivers, including information technology, real estate, construction, finance and trade, tourism and hospitality, and aviation. Such diversification has fueled the growth of the emirate and has increased its global popularity as a place to visit. The development and progress made in the commercial and financial sector of the city, along with its growth in trade, logistics, tourism, and real estate have contributed to Dubai’s emergence as a business hub.
Tourism is one of the main pillars of this diversified economy. In 2018, Dubai was the world’s sixth most-visited city after Hong Kong, Bangkok, London, Paris, and Singapore, with the size of its tourism sector reaching around $30 billion. At 2.1 million, Indian travelers represented the largest group of tourists to Dubai, accounting for nearly 13 percent of the total number of tourists. This was followed by tourists from Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.
These countries have been considered traditional markets that contribute significantly to increasing tourism in Dubai. Dubai has also started targeting newer markets, with campaigns running in 44 additional markets since 2017. As a result, there has been an increase in the number of tourists from other countries, like Russia, Germany, and China. According to Khaleej Times, Chinese tourism to Dubai showed a year-over-year increase of 41.4 percent between 2016 and 2017.

Questions
1. What role do cultural and social factors play in building Dubai’s tourism appeal? How well do you think Dubai has managed to bring the East and the West together?
2. Indian tourists account for the biggest segment of total tourism in Dubai. Discuss the role of Bollywood and other factors that attract Indian tourists to Dubai.
3. Comment on the growth of Dubai as a tourist destination and how other economic drivers have contributed to it.
4. Dubai aims to increase the number of tourists from beyond its tradition markets. What changes, if any, will be needed in its targeting and communication strategy to encourage tourists from non-traditional markets?
5. Discuss the role of Expo 2020 in further boosting Dubai’s tourism. Will Dubai be able to sustain its gains in tourism after the expo?