Sky is the limit as UAE mega-projects cement Emirates’ position as top destination

Arab News
August 1, 2018

Dubai, Aug 1: With the construction and opening of a number of mega-projects across the UAE, expectations are running high that the Emirates will continue to be a top tourist destination well beyond 2020.

From the recently opened Dubai Opera, Warner Bros. World and Louvre Abu Dhabi to the upcoming completion of Dubai Creek Tower and Dubai Square, the Emirates is taking the lead in global tourism. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry last week predicted positive years ahead for the UAE economy.

“The quality of UAE tourism and infrastructure is quite high already,” said Dr. Nasser Saidi, a former chief economist and head of external relations of Dubai International Financial Center.

“If you compare it with other countries in the region, it has the most developed and integrated infrastructure, especially from a transport and logistics point of view, from air, roads, ports, airports, metro and rail.”

Saidi said that high-quality infrastructure in hotels and conference centers made the UAE a leader in the region.

“Adding to the infrastructure always helps, but it will have a marginal impact given the existing infrastructure,” said Saidi, who was Lebanon’s minister of economy and trade and minister of industry between 1998 and 2000. “What is important is to diversify the nature of the activities for tourists.

“If you have new types of activities, that will attract more visitors.”

Although falling oil prices since mid-2014 have affected GCC economies, mega-projects will ensure the UAE continues to be a leading destination for tourists, according to the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry report.

The report, based on data from international research institutions, including Haver Analytics, Fox Economics, the UN Conference on Trade and Development and the International Monetary Fund, says that the country’s solid and diversified economy has overcome the effects of lower oil prices and weakened global trade.

“Foreign direct investment inflows to the UAE increased by 7.8 percent, making it the largest FDI (foreign direct investment) recipient in the Middle East and North Africa region and the GCC,” it read. “The UAE economic outlook is buoyed by an upswing in government spending on infrastructure projects as part of the preparations for Expo 2020.”

It predicted that the UAE economy would return to long-term growth in 2018 and beyond, thanks to a diversification of the government’s sources of income.

“I see tourism in the UAE contributing a great deal to the economy in the future,” said Asim Rahman, managing director at Saifco Travel and Tourism in Dubai.

“Middle Eastern countries were mainly depending on oil in the past and they wanted to shift their dependency on other sectors such as tourism. The region is a tourism hub, and visitors from all over the world come here due to different opportunities — it also has good security, which affects a lot of customers.”

The Dubai Creek Tower, expected to be a notch higher than Burj Khalifa in the Dubai Creek Harbor, is planned to be the tallest tower in the city, with Emaar completing the concrete placement for its pile cap two months ahead of schedule.

Rahman said that new attractions, theme parks and shopping malls would boost tourism in the future and pave the way for the country to potentially host international events, including the World Cup and the Olympics.

“The number of tourists is increasing, and it will continue,” he said. “Tourism is important because the UAE is emerging as a services industry now. It’s supporting businesses, and tourism is vital to help the economy grow further.”

Dubai Square, a new retail area in Dubai Creek Harbor, aims to reach almost more than twice the size of Dubai Mall, at 8.07 million square feet of gross floor retail space.

“There is huge potential in tourism in the UAE, which is why I work in the business,” said Mohammed Shah, general manager at Regal Tours Worldwide in Dubai.

“I see billions coming in, and it is better than we think — the government wants to promote tourism as another source of income instead of relying on traditional sources and maintaining its reputation as a tourism hub. They’re always focused on building what people around the world want, while keeping safety high on the agenda.”

He said that the government is at the forefront of tourism. “When tourists spend a dollar here, they feel they received five dollars of value,” he added. “If you look at the history of World Expos, each country which hosted an Expo has grown, developed and flourished, whether it’s China, Italy or France — if it happened with all these countries, why can’t it happen with the UAE?”

Dubai Expo 2020 also promises a major favorable impact on the economy. “Expo 2020 Dubai will be the biggest event ever held in the Middle East, with more than 180 countries, plus multilateral organizations and businesses, expected to participate,” said an Expo 2020 Dubai spokesman.

“We expect to welcome 25 million visits, with 70 percent of visitors from outside the UAE — the highest proportion in the 167-year history of World Expos.”

He said that tourism and hospitality will be one of the industries to benefit most from the six-month event, which will open on Oct. 20, 2020, due to an increase in visitor numbers as well as opportunities on the site.

“We expect the impact on the tourism industry to continue beyond 2020, thanks to the Expo increasing the UAE’s profile as an inspiring, exciting and safe destination, as well as the iconic architecture that will continue to attract visitors,” he said.

“Post-Expo, the UAE will be in a better position to attract other events of this scale due to its enhanced hospitality, security and logistics capabilities, as well as Dubai World Trade Center’s new Co-Ex, which is being built adjacent to the Expo 2020 site.”

The Co-Ex is planned to expand to 180,000 square meters after 2021, enhancing Dubai’s reputation as the premier host of events in the region.

“The Co-Ex is one example of infrastructure projects that have been brought forward due to Expo 2020, creating additional benefit for the broader UAE economy,” he said.

“Other projects include the extension of the Dubai Metro red line, Route 2020, as well as multiple DEWA substations, major road works and hotels in Dubai South. We look forward to welcoming the world to the UAE in 2020, offering millions of people an experience that will ensure they return again and again.”

Tourism agencies report witnessing more visitors, even in the usually slow summer period. “We are getting a lot more tourists than expected, especially Indian nationals, because visitors benefit from so many activities here,” said Smarth Vij, general manager at Forever Tourism in Dubai.

In Abu Dhabi, last week’s launch of Warner Bros. World is seen as another milestone in the emirate’s quest to cement its position as a leading tourist destination.

“The park is another great addition to Yas Island’s award-winning attractions,” said Mohammed Al-Mubarak, chairman of Miral. “It gives us great pride to have partnered with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to launch the world’s largest Warner Bros. indoor theme park in Abu Dhabi. We are thrilled fans will be able to enjoy the outcome of this partnership.”

For Dr. Yousif Alobaidli, general director of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center in Abu Dhabi, tourism is the sector with the greatest potential to create jobs and develop other sectors of the economy, including transport, travel and hospitality.

“This sector is expected to grow faster than the wider economy and many other industries over the next decade, and it is anticipated to support over 370 million jobs by 2026,” he said.

“The UAE has the necessary assets to invest in tourism, in particular in cultural tourism. This sector will be a game-changer in the future.”

 

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israel has launched a new act of aggression on a residential neighborhood in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, killing and injuring about two dozen civilians.

The Israeli regime's military said in a statement that its forces carried out a so-called precise strike in a residential apartment in Dahiyeh in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday.

The aggression targeted residential areas, killing at least five people and injuring more than 28 people, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. 

Hezbollah announced the martyrdom of senior Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai and four resistance fighters.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun condemned the airstrike, calling it a clear demonstration of Tel Aviv’s disregard for repeated international calls to halt violations on Lebanese soil.

“Israel refuses to implement international resolutions and all efforts aimed at ending the escalation and restoring stability,” Aoun said, urging the international community to take action to prevent further aggression.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement also condemned the attack, holding the international community accountable. 

“The international community bears responsibility and continues to provide cover for these attacks as long as it does not restrain the occupiers,” said Ali Abu Shahin, a member of the group’s political bureau.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Israeli army carried out a strike “in the heart of Beirut."

Netanyahu reportedly approved the operation following recommendations from top Israeli security officials.

Two senior US officials commented on the Israeli strike.

The first official said that Israel did not notify Americans in advance about the attack. "We were informed immediately after the strike was carried out."

The second senior official said that the "US knew for several days that Israel was planning to escalate its strikes in Lebanon, but did not know in advance the timing, location, or target of the strike."

Speaking from the site of the Israeli strike, Lebanese MP Ali Ammar condemned the attack as part of a broader campaign of aggression that has targeted "all of Lebanon since the Washington-sponsored ceasefire."

He stated that "any attack on Lebanon is a violation of red lines; this aggression is part and parcel of the entity that targets Lebanon's dignity, sovereignty, and security of citizens."

Ammar went on to say the resistance is responding with "utmost wisdom, patience, and will confront the enemy at the appropriate time."

"Unfortunately, the enemy is emboldened to commit its aggression by voices within Lebanon that have turned themselves into tools that support its aggression," he added.

The Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital is the latest blatant violation of the ceasefire Israel signed with Hezbollah in November 2024, which was intended to end hostilities that had escalated into full-scale war.

An Israeli strike on the Ain al-Hilweh camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon late Tuesday killed at least 14 people. It wounded several others, including young students, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

The military claimed the attack targeted “a Hamas training compound” used to plan and carry out attacks against the regime -- a claim that has frequently been made without evidence.

Hamas rejected the allegations as “a blatant lie aimed at justifying the massacre,” stating it had “no military installations in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon” and that the targeted site was merely “an open sports field.”

According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 4,000 people and displaced more than 1.2 million residents across the country since October 2023.

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israeli forces have pushed over the Syrian frontier, erecting a checkpoint and stopping vehicles in the southwestern city of Quneitra, in yet another breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.

The violation took place on Sunday, when the troops made their way across the border, setting up the outpost near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, Syrian outlets reported.

According to the al-Ikhbariya paper, an Israeli detachment positioned itself at the junction, halting cars and conducting searches.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that three Israeli military vehicles then moved further into the northern countryside, deploying between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain al-Bayda. The agency added that a separate Israeli unit mounted a new incursion in the central region, approaching the villages of Umm Batina and al-Ajraf.

Residents said such activities have surged in recent months, pointing to Israeli advances onto farmland, leveling of extensive forested areas, arrests, and spread of mobile checkpoints.

The Israeli regime began markedly increasing its military aggression against Syria last year.

The escalation coincided with increasingly ferocious onslaughts throughout the country by the so-called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad had confined to northwestern Syria. The HTS, however, managed to overthrow the government as the Israeli attacks would pummel the country’s civilian and defensive infrastructure.

Various reports have shown that, during the escalation, the regime conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes on the Syrian territory and over 400 ground raids into the south.

Following the collapse of the Assad government, Tel Aviv also widened its grip over the occupied Golan Heights by taking control of a demilitarized buffer zone, in defiance of a 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Earlier this month, senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the buffer zone, prompting expressions of alarm on the part of the United Nations.

The United States, the regime’s biggest ally, has, meanwhile, been fraternizing the HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid the widely reported prospect of rapprochement with Tel Aviv.

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News Network
November 22,2025

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The Israeli regime’s forces have killed two Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip every day since the ceasefire began in early October, UNICEF has warned.

The UN children’s agency said on Friday that Israeli forces continue to attack Palestinians in Gaza even though the agreement was meant to stop the killing.

“Since 11 October, while the ceasefire has been in effect, at least 67 children have been killed in conflict-related incidents in the Gaza Strip. Dozens more have been injured. That is an average of almost two children killed every day since the ceasefire took effect,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said in Geneva, reminding that each number in the statistics represents a child whose life had ended violently.

“These are not statistics,” he said. “Each child had a story, a family, and a future that was stolen from them.”

Data from Palestinian factions, human rights groups, and government bodies recorded since the US-brokered ceasefire deal went into effect on October 10 show that Israeli forces have carried out numerous attacks, each constituting a separate ceasefire violation.

UNICEF teams say they repeatedly continue to witness heart-wrenching scenes of fearful Palestinian children sleeping outdoors with amputated limbs, while others live as orphans in flooded, makeshift shelters.

“I saw this myself in August. There is no safe place for them. The world cannot normalize their suffering,” Pires said, lamenting that the UN could “do a lot more if the aid that is really needed was entering faster.”

The UNICEF spokesperson warned that with the advent of winter, the risks for hundreds of thousands of displaced children will increase.

He warned, “The stakes are incredibly high” for children as winter acts as a threat multiplier, where children have no heating, no insulation, and few blankets. He said respiratory infections rise.

“Too many children have already paid the highest price,” Pires said. “Too many are still paying it, even under a ceasefire. The world promised them it would stop and that we would protect them.”

“Now we must act like it,” the UNICEF spokesperson added.

Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, it has killed nearly 70,000 people in the territory, most of them women and children, and injured over 170,000 more, while reducing most of the structures in the enclave to rubble.

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