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The greatest show on earth
I am a thousand feet above Dubai, in a helicopter banking steeply over the Gulf coast. The pilot - also my unofficial tour guide - points out The World, Burj Dubai, and then The Palm Jumeirah; as if any of these sites need any introduction. He pauses, and then indicates in the opposite direction, towards a vast expanse of sand that constitutes the edge of the city, and the beginning of the ‘sahraa'. "All the rest," he waves an arm at the horizon, "is Dubailand."
Only from the air can you envisage the scale of the world's most ambitious tourism, leisure and entertainment project. At Dubailand's new sales headquarters, however, they are doing their best to convey the message to visitors.
A few days later, feet firmly on the ground, I enter the reception and am lifted again - this time by the sight of two adult Bengal Tigers striding around a specially constructed compound alongside the lobby. Next, I am confronted by a 3200 sq ft scale model of the entire development. As my photographer struggles manfully to squeeze the giant mock-up into a single, wide-angle frame, it is difficult to suppress a laugh. Vast hotels in the shape of downed spacecraft rise out of man-made mountains. Faux Roman architecture blends into state-of-the-art 21st century commercial developments. The Eiffel Tower, apparently, is just a stone's throw from the Great Pyramids.
The design is so outrageous, so audacious, that it contrasts markedly with the calm, polite figure that introduces himself as Mohammed Alhabbai, CEO of Dubailand. With a warm smile and a relaxed demeanor, Alhabbai does not betray a hint of the strain you would expect to see on the face of a man building a US$70bn city-within-a-city.
"I honestly don't feel under pressure, and I like coming to work," he smiles. "Every time I pass by Emirates Road and see the cranes, I count them, and I am always noticing more cranes coming up. For me, that is a great moment because I can go home feeling that we've done something."
Alhabbai and his team have achieved a considerable deal since he stepped into the role in February this year. Previously the project's Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Alhabbai is a veteran of the global tourism and leisure sector, with extensive experience in Dubai, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Egypt, and Switzerland. This expertise has ensured that Dubailand - which covers a vast area of 3 billion sq ft - has so far confounded any naysayers and is well and truly on schedule.
"If you go on site you'll see that most of the construction is going on - Dubai Sports City, Autodrome, City of Arabia, Falcon City, Al Barari, Legends, Sahara, Plantation Equestrian and Polo Club, and Dubai Outlet City," says Alhabbai.
"As of today we are making great progress. Dubailand is not just a theme park and gives you so much more than just a theme park or a rollercoaster.
"We are in the final stage of the masterplan in terms of roads and sewerage," he continues. "Our investors are on schedule, and as of today we have more than six big contractors on site."
Alhabbai insists that the project has benefited from cooperation with Dubai Municipality, which will be responsible for approving the final masterplan.
"We have had no problems with any of the government bodies, because they believe that this project will be one of the most successful projects in Dubai," he says. "The RTA has approved the conditional market plan, but we are waiting to submit the latest traffic impact study for the whole of Dubailand. On each project they want to know the number of cars coming in and out, the number of people living there, the number of visitors that they are expecting, all of these things."
According to Dubailand's own feasibility studies, conducted by international consultants Deloitte and KPMG, the development is expecting a footfall of 200,000 visitors a day, and 15 million visitors a year once it is fully operational. The population will number 2.5 million people, and the varied entertainment needs of every one of these tourists, workers and residents will be catered for.
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