Saadiyat Island makes 'trendy' list

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Saadiyat Island lies just 500 metres off the shores of Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island has been tipped to become one of the world's top ten trendiest destinations by the international travel industry, according to research carried out by the Wall Street Journal.

Saadiyat Island - whose name translates to "Island of Happiness" - was ranked by international travel scouts as a destination expected to 'become a hit in the coming years'.

The 27 kilometre natural island - which lies 500 metres off the coast of the UAE capital - is being transformed into a world-class destination.

A 100 billion UAE dirham ($27 billion) mixed commercial, residential, and leisure project is currently under construction on the island, expected to be completed in 2018.

The island's main attractions would be the luxury hotels planned for its up-market Saadiyat Beach district and its world-class museums, according to the travel scouts partaking in the Wall Street Journal study.

Saadiyat is being developed as a cultural destination with major projects like the development of the Louvre Abu Dhabi already announced.

The island's Cultural District will also house the largest Guggenheim Museum - at 30,000 square metres and a cost of $400 million - dedicated to modern and contemporary art and due for completion in 2011.

Saadiyat Island is the flagship project of Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), the asset development and management arm of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.

TDIC also scooped two awards for its Saadiyat development in May, for Best Mixed-Use Development and Best Waterfront Development.

Other destinations tipped by the international travel scouts as the 'hit' destinations of the future include Honduras, Providence Rhode Island, Newfoundland in Canada, Montenegro, Rwanda, the Seychelles, Almaty in Kazakhstan, China's Hainan Island and Boracay in The Philippines.

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