Just shy of two years ago I had a great holiday in Dubai. My first visit over here and I literally loved it! A mixture of needing a holiday, going somewhere different and fashionable, staying in a great resort on the outskirts of Dubai, but mainly due to the experience of the place. After a 2 week holiday, I left feeling that I could really enjoy living and working there.
My next visit to Dubai was for a day on my first trip to Abu Dhabi about 6 months ago, and I wasn't too sure about the place, it just wasn't the same as Abu Dhabi, and in less than 18months it had changed a lot.
I went again yesterday for the day (it's no more than an hour and half in the car) and again it's changed. So busy, so much development, so many cars, so many people, it just doesn't look as appealing. The tower blocks they are building are just metres apart from each other, and they seem to have decided to get as many buildings on the smallest amount of land area possible. However what is impressive is the new tower the Burj Dubai (Dubai Tower). When completed it will be the tallest building in the world, over 750 metres tall, or half a mile high!
So why has the appeal gone? A number of reasons, the main one being able to compare Dubai with Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE, and bigger than Dubai, but internationally Dubai is more recognised. Abu Dhabi is behind Dubai in it's development, but from spending just over four weeks over here, it is a lovely place. Not over developed, more open spaces, not as many cranes (fact - 15% of the worlds cranes are in Dubai), and busy and congested in parts, but not as much as Dubai. The way someone compared the two to me recently was Dubai is the New York and Abu Dhabi the Washington, which is a fair comparison.
The Abu Dhabi of now is much calmer and cleaner (in my opinion) to the Dubai of today, and that's why I prefer it, but it's a few years behind Dubai in development and has a lot of plans. I just hope it doesn't suffer the same as Dubai and just implode? Honestly I don't think it will for two reasons, firstly it claims to be learning from the mistakes of Dubai and secondly it has it's masterplan called Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, which is aimed at joining up all the developments going on here. Again I hope it does manage things better, but it will be a challenge as, as in all cases, money talks. In the new newspaper today, The National, I read that residential property has gone up 53% in the year to April 2008, occupancy levels are at 98% and subsequently rents rising sharply (22% in the same period). Market forces are dictating what goes on. With the current population of 900,000 expected to rise to 1,300,000 by 2013, the demand will continue to outstrip supply. Currently there are 180,000 residential units, and a further 100,000 are needed by 2010, and a further 140,000 in the 3 years after that till 2013. And even after all this there will still not be oversupply! So, in 5 years Abu Dhabi will be every different, so to manage this huge growth in a controlled way, without it losing the charm it has now, is a challenge, but I'm sure one AD will rise to.
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Thing is, Abu Dhabi has got loads of oil and Dubai hasn't. So Dubai -- which will run out of the stuff in five years or so -- is desperate to find a revenue-generating replacement, and they've decided to go primarily for tourism (both hotel tourism and second homes). Hence all the building. And the buzz, and the bars, and the entertainment ...
Abu Dhabi can take a longer-term view when it comes to finding an oil replacement, and it's going more for business -- setting itself up as THE place to run a business servicing the whole of the GC region, with hotels designed for high-value and long-term residents rather than the one or two week stag party crowd and Boris Becker.
Which makes AD a nicer place to be. But a more boring one. Eat and drink here, then you're done. I'm surprised there's not more wifeswapping ...
I love to travel and find out different place. There are many visits that is unforgettable in my life. holidays in Dubai is one of them it's really cool to spend days in holiday. I personally enjoyed it a lot....
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