Visiting places in UAE

Gobal Village has come a long way since it was started in 1996 as a small site alongside Dubai Creek with small kiosks selling products from various countries. It moved to its current location in Dubailand in 2005 and was a great success, attracting 5 million visitors over 79 days.

Dubailand will be an entertainment complex like no other and is set to bring tourists from all over the world to Dubai. Dubai Autodrome, a project by Union Properties, is part of the Motor City project and is the Middle East's first Autodrome.

Dubai Festival City is a multi billion dirham development, to be completed in phases by 2015. The project will house a retail park, four hotels, a golf course, a marina, a boulevard, schools and hospitals.

The shiny curved surface of the National Bank of Dubai makes it one of the most photographed buildings in the UAE. Next door is the equally striking Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry head quarters, while on the other side is the upmarket Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel & Towers.

The Bur Dubai area is one of the oldest parts of Dubai and is popular with tourists who want to check out the bargains in the souq. Port Rashid beside Bur Dubai is a major transshipment centre and at any one time hundreds of vehicles will be lined up awaiting a trip to their final destination.

Giant tankers come to Dubai Dry Docks for maintenance and repair work making it a vital centre for keeping the Middle East's shipping industry running smoothly.

Among the prestigious developments alongside Shaikh Rashid Road, which links the Al Garhoud Bridge and the Dubai World Trade Cenre round about, is the Grand Hyatt hotel.

Designed to take traffic out of the downtown area of Dubai, Emirates Road is now a destination in its own right with countless residential, industrial and leisure development projects springing up alongside. Among the many schemes completed or being developed near Emirates Road are Arabian Ranches, one of Emaar's most prestigious residential developments, and Al Salam City, a residential and commercial leasehold development from Tameer.

The striking new Etisalat head quarters buildingis taking shape close to the Dubai World Trade Centre roundabout beside Shaikh Zayed Road. There is no part of Dubai more impressive than Shaikh Zayed Road, which stuns newcomers to the city with its glitzy designs. Among the most impressive buildings is the Emirates Towers office and hotel complex.

Further along from the Burj Dubai Downtown complex are many new residential schemes and the starting new Business Bay development. This project aims to meedt the growing demand for commercial office space and will house scores of commercial towers beside an artificial water bay. Already 11 of executive towers are taking shape.