Rashid Al-Maktoum travel tips

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation, today announced that the AI Retreat, organised collaboratively by the Dubai Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DCAI) and the National Program for Artificial Intelligence, will become an annual event on Dubai’s calendar, with the next retreat set to run on 29 April 2025. Dubai was voted as Middle East’s Leading Destination 2024 by the World Travel Awards

The crown prince of Dubai has announced a new plan in his emirate, one which will push the city more towards rural and cultural tourism. Dubai will spend $106 million on projects across the “Saih Al Salam Scenic Route,” developing desert patches across the city into spaces with parks, camps, markets and safaris.

As excited as I was to be traveling to Dubai, which is one of seven Arab Emirates, I nonetheless had some preconceived notions about it. Most notably, I envisioned a destination that was simply akin to Las Vegas on steroids.

A version of this article originally appeared in Architectural Digest.

Dubai has maintained its tourism growth momentum with 5.18 million international overnight visitors in the first quarter of 2024, marking an 11 per cent year-on-year increase. The data was released by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) at the 31st edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM), which opened today.

Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts is now just “Jumeirah” as the state-owned hospitality brand undergoes a rebrand. Jumeirah announced this on Tuesday at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM), Dubai’s biggest travel tradeshow.

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, has inaugurated the landmark Dubai Reef project with the launch of the pilot reef modules.

Dubai confirmed Sunday it would be shifting its airport operations from the current Dubai International Airport to Al Maktoum International Airport “within the next 10 years.”

Two of Dubai’s most prominent real estate developers are being merged and rolled into the personal portfolio of the emirate’s ruler.

Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Second Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Media Council; Brand Dubai, the creative arm of the Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO), today launched the third edition of the #DubaiDestinations winter campaign. The campaign puts the spotlight on the unique places, activities and attractions that make Dubai one of the world’s most-loved winter getaways.

Dubai’s homegrown hotel group, Jumeirah is now on a fast-track journey to become a global leader in luxury. The Burj Al Arab operator wants to double its footprint by the end of the decade, meaning more than 50 hotels.

The city of Dubai has reinforced its position as a major global tourism with its impressive H1 visitor results recently announced from Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) and Crown Prince and Chairman of The Executive Council Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

On the Emirates Official Store, customers can also browse a range of UAE National Day merchandise including a white cap with UAE flag calligraphy design on the peak, scarves, lapel pins and keyrings.

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates this week revised the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2022 from 6.5 percent to to 7.6 percent. Explaining the reason for the renewed forecast, the bank cited stronger than anticipated performance of non-oil sectors, including tourism, hospitality, real estate, transportation and manufacturing. In its review report for the third quarter, the Central Bank noted that it expects non-oil gross domestic product to grow by 6.1 percent in 2022, compared to its previous estimate of 4.3 percent, while it expected oil gross domestic product to grow by 11 percent in 2022. Explaining the reasons for the steady growth in gross domestic product, the report cited the removal of most Covid-related restrictions, in addition to recovery of the tourism sector, real estate and construction boom, expansion of manufacturing activities, as well as the hosting of global events.

In a bid to boost tourism’s contribution to the national gross domestic product to $122 billion a year by 2031, the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, launched the UAE Tourism Strategy 2031 on Friday. Eyeing an annual increase of $7.4 billion, the tourism startegy aims to attract new investments of $27.2 billion to the tourism sector in the country, and attract 40 million hotel guests in 2031. The strategy includes 25 initiatives and policies to support the development of the tourism sector in the country, according to the government media office. With the return of tourists, the United Arab Emirates’ tourism revenues surpassed $5 billion in the first half of this year.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, launched the Dubai Economic Agenda — D33 with the ambitious goal of doubling the size of Dubai’s economy over the next decade. With economic targets of $8.7 trillion over the next 10 years, the agenda also aims to establish Dubai’s position among the top three global cities. A key priority of the D33 Agenda is to make Dubai one of the top three international destinations for tourism and business by providing a globally competitive environment for business and driving down the cost of doing business across a number of sectors. The agenda also includes the launch of innovative projects to help make Dubai the world’s best city to live and work in as well as drive sustainable economic growth through innovative approaches. “Dubai will rank as one of the top four global financial centers with an increase in foreign direct investment to over $177 billion over the next decade and an annual $27.2 billion contribution from digital transformation,” the Dubai ruler said.

Dubai has yet again revealed its plans to connect the city through flying taxis and expects to launch aerial taxi operations by 2026.

Dubai welcomed 4.67 million international overnight visitors in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 3.97 million tourists during the same period in 2022, according to the latest data published by the Department of Economy and Tourism. This marks a 17 percent year-on-year growth and the city’s best first quarter performance since the pandemic. The number of visitors in in the first quarter was just two percentage points short of pre-pandemic volume of 4.75 million tourists that arrived in Dubai in the first three months of 2019. Dubai’s traditional source markets in its key regions continued to perform strongly during the first quarter of the year. The Gulf as well as the Middle East and Northern Africa region collectively contributed 29 percent of total volumes, while Western Europe accounted for 22 percent of tourism arrivals, and South Asia accounted for 16 percent of total international visitation. “The tourism sector is not only the strongest pillars of our economy but also a key enabler of Dubai’s distinctive role in the world as a bridge between markets, cultures and regions,” said Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, crown prince of Dubai and chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai. The crown prince said Dubai would continue to introduce new initiatives to achieve its goal of becoming the world’s best place to live, visit, work and invest in. “The first quarter has set us off on a very strong trajectory for the year and is driving us closer towards realizing the vision of making Dubai the most visited and re-visited destination,” said Helal Saeed Almarri, director general of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism.

Dubai’s ruler on Wednesday announced a new plan for the Palm Jebel Ali, a man-made palm-shaped island that has been dormant since 2009 following a real estate crash, and is double the size of the functioning Palm Jumeirah.

When a planned $32 billion expansion is completed, Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) will be the world’s largest.