Dubai’s buildings help fuel the UAE’s tourism push

Article Excerpt

The landscape of Dubai features numerous architectural masterpieces and increasingly draws the kind of related tourism of a Chicago or San Francisco. The Burj Al Arab, a famous 7-star hotel where rooms normally sell for more than $1,500 per night, is but one example (see picture pg. 45). Still, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa may be the most spectacular of all. At 828 meters tall, it is the world’s highest building. It also houses a hotel, restaurants, residential apartments, offices, and a nightclub. Construction of the Burj Khalifa began in 2004, with the exterior completed five years later. The building was opened in 2010 as the centerpiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development called Downtown Dubai. The decision to construct the building was an effort by the Dubai government to diversify its tourism offerings and to gain international recognition. The architectural wonder was first named Burj Dubai but later renamed in honour of the president of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. That reflects…