While neighbouring Dubai has caught the world’s media attention with its over-the-top developments, Abu Dhabi has been quietly planning its transformation into a world-class luxury travel and business destination.

Big plans
The Abu Dhabi 2030 Urban Structure Framework Plan will see the city change into a modern metropolis, complete with trams, rotating towers and developments in the sea. One of these, Saadiyat Island, is spearheading the transformation of Abu Dhabi into a world-class tourism destination with a cultural emphasis. It is here that a new US$27 billion cultural district will be located, which will contain museums, art galleries and performing arts centres.
 
These will include the Louvre Abu Dhabi, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and expected to open in 2012, and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi contemporary art museum, designed by Frank Gehry. It is scheduled for completion in 2011 and is set to become the largest Guggenheim museum in the world.

Top attractions
Abu Dhabi has several attractions worth checking out, such as the beautiful Corniche (beach), the Al Hisn Fort, Breakwater Island and Sheikh Zayed’s palace.

Many of the city’s top-class hotels and restaurants, including the prestigious Emirates Palace Hotel, allegedly the most expensive in the world, are located along the downtown section of the Corniche, overlooking the many sandy islets that are rapidly undergoing development.

There is something epic about Dubai: it’s not just the world’s tallest tower or the first seven-star hotel, the reclaimed islands or the indoor ski slope, it’s the sheer vision of those Emiratis who had the courage and ambition a decade ago to build something extraordinary out of the desert.  

Dubai may have taken a knock in the current global recession but nothing will hold this city of the future back for long. Already visitors are streaming through Dubai’s new airport terminal, which houses the world’s largest single floor space, and flocking to Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping centre. Dubai has a mission to be the biggest and the best and the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower opened in January 2010, is symbolic of Dubai’s ‘the-sky-is-the-limit’ attitude.

Expatriate workers may pine for home or for the ‘good old days’ before the notorious city traffic, but most visitors find Dubai with its sandy beaches and all-night entertainment an exhilarating experience. Cross the creek on an abra (water taxi), dine underwater at the Atlantis Hotel, or play golf on a desert turned green, and this safe and friendly city of year-round sunny skies will be sure to lure you back.