In the past few years, Dubai City in the United Arab Emirates has emerged as an oasis in the desert. Since it began exhausting its oil reserves a few years ago, Dubai has focused more and more on becoming a financial and tourism capital. To do that, it has taken a series of impressive steps that make it increasingly attractive as a place for foreigners to visit and work.
Non-Extremist Islamic State
Unlike much of the Middle East, Dubai has a particularly liberal government. Islam is the official religion, but it is not enforced in any way. Dubai is not governed by Sharia law and experiences virtually no extremist violence. Thus, Dubai is a place where you can enjoy Arab/Islamic culture in the Middle East without fear of being the victim of a suicide bombing. Non-Muslims may still face a little discrimination, but laws like the ones that prevented them from owning property are gone. Remnants of those laws, however, such as the censorship of all Israeli websites, do remain.
History/Archeology
There are three main archaeological sites in Dubai. One includes 2000 year old graves and another contains artifacts from the 7th through the 15th centuries. Dubai is also surrounded by desert, so you can enjoy a desert safari or a trip to a Bedouin village to see how people in the area lived thousands of years ago. If you are interested in Arab architecture or history, Dubai is a good place to see it (containing several impressive mosques) because the political climate there makes it safer and more convenient for foreigners than it is in a place like Iran or even Israel.
Accommodations
No tourist town would be complete without the best accommodations. Dubai is home to the tallest hotel in world, the Burj Al Arab. It is a five-star luxury hotel built on a manmade island of the coast of Dubai and featuring beautiful ocean views in every room. All rooms are suites and range in price from $1000 to $28,000 per night. Like many Las Vegas casinos, the Burj Al Arab is something you will want to see even if you cannot afford to stay there. It is easily Dubai's most distinctive and instantly recognizable feature.
Festivals
Like any international city, Dubai is home to a variety of annual events and festivals. These include the Dubai shopping festival, the Dubai film festival, the Dubai Desert Classic (a gold tournament), Emirates World Series-Dubai World Cup (a horse-race), and the Dubai Rugby Sevens. Dubai also hosts a number of conferences from various international companies and organizations every year.
Super-Attractions
Dubai is home to some of the most impressive tourist attractions in the world. These range from the largest shopping mall in the world to the world's largest indoor ski slope, to the world's largest collection of theme parks. The city of Dubai and private investors have put billions of billions of dollars into make Dubai a serious rival to traditional resort cities like Orlando and Las Vegas.
Those who visit Dubai may be inclined to stay because Dubai City has no sales, income, or property taxes. Obviously, this is generated much interest from multi-national corporations, so there is more and more work to be had in Dubai all the time. Just realize that, as western as Dubai has become, it is still an officially Islamic state and that will affect you while you are there.
