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In the United Arab Emirates, a
small desert nation in the Middle East, Dubai is
building an empire of large-scale projects, creating a
major tourist attraction area.
The biggest undertaking by far is the massive
scale DubaiLand, based on the premise of the successful
Disneyworld and Disneyland theme parks in America.
However, DubaiLand will be on a much larger
scale, covering 180 million square miles and consisting
of multiple themed areas, a mall, and even an indoor ski
area.
Start with the Mall of Arabia,
billed as the biggest mall in the world.
Set for completion in 2008, it will be a major
entry point into the several “worlds” of the park.
Add to that the City of Arabia, a 35-tower,
70-story residence complex that will have an
air-conditioned train leading straight into the mall.
The mall will be an entry point for
Dubailand’s Dinosaur World, an animatronic theme park
based around the prehistoric creatures.
Other areas of Dubailand include Arabian Theme
Park (the equestrian center), Motor Racing World,
Aviation World, Pharaohs’ Theme Park, a sports
complex, the largest zoo in the Middle East, a water
amusement park, an artificial rainforest within a giant
glass dome, a modern art gallery, and many new five-star
hotels (one of which is built in the dunes of the
desert).
Dubailand also includes a fabulous
technological wonder – Snow World, an indoor ski
resort. Snow
World maintains a comfortable 0°
Celsius and contains real snow.
The resort even boasts a black diamond trail.
Dubailand is a huge undertaking,
with sources of funds still being negotiated.
Already the Dubai government is financing the
building of the infrastructure (which is already
underway) with $700 million.
This is not even included in the total bill of
over $5 billion that the design is set to cost. Consisting of what the government officials refer to as 45
main projects and over 200 subprojects, Dubailand is
sure to cause a stir and increase the flow of tourists
in Dubai.
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