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The city by the creek
In the first of a three-part series, Chandani Kirinde, on an Emirates’ Group sponsored tour, discovers Dubai’s many attractions
Dubai is as familiar to Sri Lankans as the name of any city in their own country but the images that it conjures up are of a desert state that many people go to for better employment prospects and a heaven for duty free shopping. Dubai is a many faceted cosmopolitan city that has not lost any of its old world charm despite the rapid developments that have taken place there in the past few decades.

Although the landscape of Dubai seems to be changing overnight with ultra-modern buildings coming up at an unbelievable speed, the efforts to restore and keep alive the emirate's rich cultural heritage have not suffered. It is indeed a wonderful surprise for visitors to Dubai to discover the many hidden attractions the place has to offer which may not be as well known as the gold and duty free goods that have become an integral part of modern day Dubai.

Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and despite its reputation as a newly-built cosmopolitan city, archaeological findings have uncovered evidence that suggests the existence of fishing settlements in the area that is modern day Dubai dating back 4000 years.

In the same way that all other major civilisations in the world grew around rivers, human settlements in Dubai evolved around the Dubai creek - the natural seawater inlet that cuts through the centre of the city and is historically and to this day a focal point of life in Dubai. The creek is a place bustling with activity with the transportation of men and goods being carried out in a manner that invokes its centuries old trading traditions. Colourful dhows line the creek and are a major tourist attraction with many people using water taxies (abra) to sail across the creek and take in the picturesque view of Dubai.

Although the early history of Dubai is not well documented, the first major settlement had taken place around the 1830s by members of a Bani Yas tribe branch led by the Maktoum family. The Maktoum family continues to rule Dubai till today. The chief occupations of the early settlers were dhow building, fishing and pearl diving with the pearl business bringing the most prominence to Dubai. Although pearls continued to be the mainstay of the emirate till the 1940s, the development of Japanese cultured pearls led to a collapse in demand for the natural product but by that time trade in other products - including gold - had grown steadily in Dubai.

A visit to the Dubai Museum situated in the Al Fahidi Fort will take a visitor through a visual journey of the difficult time the early inhabitants of Dubai had. The museum displays the domestic and commercial lifestyles of the people who lived over the centuries as well as the intricate details of their everyday lives.

One of the most spectacular displays is the one portraying pearl diving along with the tools they use for diving and extracting pearls. The museum recreates scenes from the creek, traditional Arab houses, mosques, the souks, date farms and desert and marine life.

Another place of interest is the official residence of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai (1921-1958) and grandfather of the present ruler, Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, which has been restored and stands at one end of the Dubai creek. The house, which dates from 1896, now has a rare collection of historic photographs, coins, stamps and documents that record Dubai's history.

Dubai's culture is rooted in Islam with virtually every neighbourhood having its own mosque where the faithful congregate five times a day for prayer. One of the largest and most beautiful is the Jumeirah Mosque, a fine example of modern Islamic architecture. The Hatta Heritage Village, which is situated 115kms southwest of the city of Dubai, is another place that provides the visitor with an insight into the past of the emirate.

And the search for more ancient sites that could help better understand the lifestyles of the people who lived in the Dubai of yore continues creating more places of interest that tourists to the emirate could visit in the years to come.

A major site of excavation is the Jumeirah archaeological site, about 15kms southwest of Dubai city, where artefacts discovered have been traced back to one of the earliest Islamic eras between the 9th and 10th century AD. The government and the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) have been heavily involved in the excavation activities.

So as Dubai keeps taking one giant step after another to develop itself into an ultra modern city, it will not be leaving behind its rich cultural heritage. Along with the modern day developments, the preservation and excavation of ancient sites will continue so that visitors to Dubai can take home with them a little history along with the modern day achievements of this remarkable city.

Drawing the tourists
The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) of Dubai is the government authority entrusted with the task of promoting and developing tourism in the emirate. It is a task which the officials there take very seriously.

According to Abdullah bin Suwaidan, Executive, Missions of the DTCM, the number of foreigners who visited Dubai in 2002 exceeded 4.7 million. "We hope to increase this figure to 15 million by 2010," he said.

Mr. Suwaidan said that the reason Dubai is such a popular tourist destination is because it is one of the safest cities in the world. "We have limited oil resources and realising that we have begun to diversify our sources of income. Tourism is one of the main areas we are developing," he said.

To underline the importance attached to tourism development in the emirate, the DTCM is headed by the Crown Prince of Dubai and the UAE Minister of Defence General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. In addition to its head office in Dubai, the DTCM also has 15 overseas offices across all five continents.

The DTCM is spearheading the development of several futuristic tourist attractions in Dubai, the more spectacular among which will be the Hydropolis, the world's first underwater luxury hotel.

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