Dubai-The 'Go Ahead' Emirate

Dubai: City of Grand Possibilities
Renowned as the centre of the modern Arab world, Dubai, the commercial hub of the United Arab Emirates, is now the fastest growing city in the Middle East - largely due to a rapidly maturing, non-oil dependent economy and a government committed to liberal, free market, business-friendly policies. Dubai's economic diversification has been a startling success, with iconic property developments and free trade zones worth over US$100 billion under construction. New financial markets and tax-free earnings for corporations and individuals are just some of the reasons for the city's dynamic growth.

In 2005, Dubai attracted over six million travelers, and had an annual air passenger growth rate of 16%.

In 2008, Dubai International Airport recorded a passenger throughput of 37,441,440 passengers, an increase of 9.01% over 2007’s 34,348,110. In terms of cargo throughput, Dubai International Airport recorded a total of 1,824,991 tones in 2008, corresponding to a 9.38% increase over 2007’s 1,668,505 tones.

The number of tourists into Dubai is projected to reach 15 million by 2010.

From 1990 to 2003, Dubai's GDP has increased by a staggering 263%, and continues to grow by 10% annually.

Dubai's Vital Statistics: Economy

As of 2007 Dubai's GDP was US$54.3 billion, allowing Dubai to stay ahead of future demands and develop the emirate's existing transport, property and commercial infrastructure. Long-term strategic developments such as Dubai World Central will play a vital role in realising the Emirate's global potential and ambitions.

Dubai's non-oil foreign trade that reached UDS185 billion in 2007 compared to USD139 billion in 2006, recording a 33% rise. The focus was on key non-oil sectors of development including tourism, retail, infrastructures, knowledge, transports, logistics, manufacturing, professional and Government services.

The hospitality industry is expecting a real boom with its target of 100,000 rooms for 15 million visitors by the year 2015. Currently, there are 324 hotels, 33,731 rooms with occupancy rate of more than 85% throughout the year as a total of seven million people used Dubai hotels in 2007 compared to 1.9 million in 1996.

The city features the world's tallest hotel (Burj Al Arab) and soon to be the world's tallest structure, Burj Dubai.

Dubai's population as of 2007 is 1,529,792 people, which includes 1,164,576 males and 365,216 females, with approximately 17% of the population made up of UAE nationals. Majority of Dubai’s population is concentrated in the 15-49 years age group comprising 82.1% of the total population.

Arabic is the official language of Dubai, with several other languages including English, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Tagalog are widely spoken.

Islam is the official state religion of the UAE, while the government subsidises almost 95 percent of Sunni mosques. Large expatriate Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities exist within Dubai.