Creating unique landmarks of tourism
The roots of Nakheel are founded in tourism. In the mid 1990s the Dubai government was looking to diversify its economy, and saw Dubai’s strengths as a tourist destination as its year round sun, clear seas, and sandy beaches. Unfortunately with under 70km of coastline, beaches were in short supply.
This was the inspiration behind Nakheel’s waterfront developments – an ingenious solution to Dubai’s limited beachfront. Nakheel has a portfolio of waterfront developments, which when complete will add more than 1,000km to Dubai’s coastline.
Nakheel’s developments are not just an ingenious solution to limited beachfront, but are unique landmarks of tourism – symbols of engineering and iconic achievement. As symbols of Dubai’s progress and ambition, projects like The Palm and The World are already becoming recognized internationally as 21st century icons to compare with some of the world’s best know and loved landmarks.
A UK consumer survey commissioned in April 2007 showed that:
- Two thirds of people say developments like The Palm and The World would entice them to visit Dubai. Six per cent said they would come just for that reason.
- In the UAE over half of people name The Palm islands as their favourite recent international landmark (when compared to other new world landmarks such as The Louvre in Paris, The Gherkin in London, The Rockerfeller Building in New York and the HSBC Building in Hong Kong).
- In the UK, The Palm islands come second only to The Louvre in Paris as favourite modern international landmark – with one in five saying it is their favourite.
- The survey found that Dubai is the world city at the forefront of architectural innovation with 29% agreeing. Dubai beat all other cities in the survey including New York, London, Shanghai, Moscow and Berlin.
The Nakheel Sales Centre has become a tourist attraction in itself; with between 300 – 500 tourist visitors coming to the sales centre to witness the concept of developments like The Palm and The World.
Nakheel’s Ibn Battuta Mall opened in April 2005; the spectacular design charting the travels of the 14th century Arab explorer. Ibn Battuta Mall has attracted millions of visitors to date, and hosted 10,000s of people on its daily tours in Arabic and English, which explores the cultures and technologies that Ibn Battuta encountered on his travels.
