ABSTRACTThe Middle East as a whole attractscomparatively few visitors, and politicalevents in the current century have generatednew uncertainties and tensions which seemlikely to further discourage tourists andinvestors. Additional barriers relate to pooraccessibility, a perceived lack ofconventional attractions and limitedpromotion. Despite these apparentlyunfavourable circumstances, internationaltourism has been adopted by the Dubaiauthorities as a core element in aprogramme of economic diversification.They have invested heavily in expensivefacilities, as well as undertaken extensivemarketing, and the outcome has been stronggrowth in tourism. There are greatexpectations of the future, reflected in thesetting of very high arrival targets.However, there are also several constraintsthat might inhibit progress, with a need toreview strategies. The experience of Dubaithus serves to illustrate factors that arecritical to destination development, majorimpediments and approaches to overcomingthese. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons,Ltd.Received 15 March 2005; Revised 6 July 2005; Accepted 18 January 2006Keywords: destination development; Dubai;Middle East.INTRODUCTIONCertain countries of the Middle East havefaced exceptional tourism developmentchallenges and continue to do so. Dubai,however, has demonstrated an ability to over-come any of these it shares and establish itselfas a relatively popular destination with a hightourism growth rate. It is therefore an interest-ing example of a more successful Middle Easttourism centre that is creating new opportuni-ties and realising its potential. As such, Dubaimerits examination and this paper explores thepattern of development there and its underly-ing dynamics within the context of factors thatare critical to destination development andbarriers obstructing such a process.After an opening section explaining thechoice of analytical framework, a briefsummary of tourism in the wider area andUnited Arab Emirates (UAE), to which Dubaibelongs, is presented in order to set the scene.This is followed by discussion of Dubai’s positive attributes and an evaluation of futurechallenges before a conclusion which com-ments on any general lessons to be learnedfrom the particular experiences of Dubai. Find-ings are derived from an analysis of secondarydata, material provided by official agenciesand fieldwork observations and the main focusis on leisure travel from markets outside theregion.DESTINATION DEVELOPMENTThe development of tourist destinations is acentral theme in the tourism literature andresearchers approach the subject from variousperspectives and disciplines. The temporal andspatial evolution of destinations, the impactsof development, government growth policies,planning imperatives, marketing issues andCopyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCHInt. J. Tourism Res. 8, 87–99 (2006)Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/jtr.557Tourism in Dubai: Overcoming Barriersto Destination DevelopmentJoan C. Henderson* Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798*Correspondence to: J. C. Henderson, Nanyang BusinessSchool, Nanyang Technological University, NanyangAvenue, Singapore 639798.E-mail: [email protected] strategies are amongst the manytopics studied. Such analyses suggest thatplaces, whether considered at resort or countrylevel, are more likely to develop as tourist destinations if certain factors are present,whereas their absence can constitute barriersof assorted degrees of severity. Critical influ-ences relate to accessibility (Prideaux, 2000),attraction and amenity standards (Gunn,2004), awareness and positive images (Johnsand Mattson, 2005) associated with promotionand marketing (Buhalis, 2000), a supportivegovernment (Weaver and Lawton, 2002) and apeaceful and stable environment (Poirier,1997). Tourists need to know about and havefavourable impressions of potential destina-tions, be motivated to travel by sites and activ-ities of interest, have somewhere to stay andfeel safe and secure. Authorities have a vitalrole and public investment and implementa-tion of pro-tourism policies can help in ensur-ing that such circumstances do prevail.The relative significance of each dimensionis a matter for debate and partly depends onthe tourist market and characteristics of thedestination. The belief that ‘political serenity,not scenic or cultural attractions, constitutesthe first and central requirement of tourism’(Richter and Waugh, 1986, p. 320) is shared bymany, and recent world events and their consequences have demonstrated its validity.Nevertheless, a shortage of tourism resources,inadequate infrastructure, obstructionist gov-ernments and weak or ineffective promotionare still major impediments and especiallywhen occurring in combination. The contribu-tion of attractions should perhaps be high-lighted as the ‘energising power unit of thetourist system’ (Gunn, 2004, p. 20), althoughconceptions are constantly changing with theemergence of new styles that are less geo-graphically dependent and essentially artificial(Fyall et al., 2003).Selected key attributes of stability, govern-ment policy, accessibility, amenities, attractionsand promotion form a framework for thisanalysis of Dubai’s tourism. The discussionassesses the extent to which Dubai possessessuch qualities and the ways it has aimed to sur-mount obstacles arising from any deficienciesin each component, its progress in this direc-tion illuminated by contrasts with the state oftourism development in the Middle East as awhole, which is outlined below.AN OVERVIEW OF TOURISM IN THEMIDDLE EAST, THE UAE AND DUBAIThe Middle East is defined by the WorldTourism Organisation (WTO) as comprisingBahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon,Libya, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,Syria, the UAE and Yemen, with Israel placedin the East Mediterranean Europe category(WTO, 2005a). The region recorded only 4.6%(35.4 million) of the world’s total arrivals and3.4% of receipts in 2004 (WTO, 2005b), despitehaving a rich array of natural and culturalassets. These figures appear to confirm theview that it is ‘one of the least developedtourism regions in the world’ (Sharpley, 2002,p. 221), with proposed reasons being infra-structure inadequacies and lack of planningand marketing (Mintel, 2002). Some stateshave imposed restrictive entry