Reuters Business Traveller

Dubai – Overview

Located on the southern shore of the Arabian Gulf, Dubai is the second-largest of the seven emirates which make up the UAE and has always been a meeting place; bringing together the tribes of the desert interior with the pearl-diver, the market trader and the fisherman. It’s hard to believe that in the 1950s Dubai was a still a small Bedouin settlement ­– until you leave the 1.8-million-strong city and abruptly hit all-expansive desert.

In Dubai, you can start the day sun-worshipping at a city-sized glitzy beach resort, take a shopping trip at a renovated souk (in the tiny lanes of the spice souk, the atmosphere and the scents of the past can almost be imagined) or escape the heat at Dubai Mall, the world’s biggest, before setting off to the undulating desert for some sport: falconry; Arabian horse riding or a jaunt on a camel.

Post recession, Dubai is looking firmly to the future and the 2010 opening of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, signalled its intentions. Meanwhile, the hotels keep on opening, and since the recession prices have dropped. Dubai is now affordable luxury.

Don’t leave town without taking an abra (water taxi) down the Creek, a natural seawater inlet that cuts through the centre of the city. Watch the loading and unloading of dhows, which still ply ancient trade routes to places as distant as India and East Africa.

Money: The dirham (AD). There are 100 fils to the dirham. All major credit cards and travellers’ cheques are accepted in main hotels and larger shops, but many local traders will offer lower prices for cash to avoid paying credit card commissions. ATMs that accept cards carrying the Visa, Plus or Cirrus symbols are common.