The Al Maha Desert resort is the perfect getaway spa for those who wish to be pampered, while the more adventurous can try camel riding and a four-wheel drive ride over the sand dunes. A word of warning about the latter: if you are asked whether you get seasick don’t think it’s an irrelevant question, like I did at first.

After 15 minutes being driven up and over steep dunes, I understood what seasickness had to do with it. Occasionally, your driver might have to stop to give a hand to another four-wheel drive that has become stuck in the sand. Unfortunately, when we stopped to admire the breathtaking sunset, I was still green at the gills.

Thankfully, I recovered in time to enjoy the open-air show, which was our destination. We sat on cushions, Bedouin-style and ate the delicious barbecued food on low tables while a voluptuous belly dancer demonstrated her moves and even persuaded us to dance with her. I somehow managed to go on a camel ride under the stars while the camel herders spoke softly among themselves, sprawled casually on the sand.

The trick is to lean backwards as the camel scrambles to its feet because this animal is very, very tall; something I never expected.

Dubai is an extremely clean place - our tourist guide told us that if we threw cigarette stubs on the ground, his company would be fined $50. The emphasis on hygiene is everywhere; complete with quaint signs like the one I saw in a toilet: “You shall have the minimal human hygiene to clean the mess you make”.

It’s a city of stark contrasts; traditional wooden boats used as water taxis are juxtaposed bizarrely against the modern skyline, while the harsh, barren desert is only 20 minutes away from the hi-tech, ultra-modern city. You can spend your evenings at the most trendy night-clubs, or cruising leisurely on a dhow while you eat a delicious meal and enjoy the beauty of the brightly lit buildings on the shoreline.

At the souk, which includes the famous gold market, you are free to roam without fear of being overly pestered. There are 400 gold shops and the unique designs can be made to your requirements. You have to haggle, of course, it’s practically expected, but that is all part and parcel of the Dubai experience.

Investment

After the first day we had already got used to hearing that everything in Dubai is ‘the biggest, the tallest, the best’. Projects in the pipeline are completed well on target, with a careful eye always being kept on the bottom line. The vision and dynamism of this government is so reminiscent of an American-style philosophy that I just had to ask whether the Sheikh who rules Dubai was educated in the US. (He was).

For children there are existing theme parks such as Wild Wadi and Wonderland, but not content with these, there are plans to open Dubailand, a theme park that is going to be ‘bigger than Monaco.’

Here is a city where the government is always thinking and creating, dreaming up innovative ways to attract tourists, and (most important of all) actually putting these dreams into action. Over and over again we heard of the projects planned for completion by 2006, and I would be prepared to bet that they will be ready well before the deadline.

While other countries, such as Malta, are struggling to retain their share of the tourism market, Dubai is experiencing a boom. This is not just a matter of chance or luck, either. The country has invested heavily in its tourist-related services and infrastructure.

Take Dubai International Airport, which currently handles 24 million passengers. The projection for 2006? A cool 60 million passengers. We were given a tour of the airport facilities, which were literally mind-boggling.

Passengers travelling First or Business Class are allocated rooms in case they want to sleep or freshen up. They are also entitled to free meals and access to a health and fitness club. However, in order to offer the best service to all its passengers, anyone can use these same facilities at a reasonable charge. “We don’t believe in discriminating in our approach to our customers,” we were told.

The thoughtfulness behind the beautifully designed airport can be seen in the small details. A large sign in the departure lounge indicates how long it will take you to get from any one point of the airport to your gate – this means that you cannot miss your flight by miscalculating the distance and assuming that you will get there in time. This is no laughing matter as I can vouch for because it almost happened to me at an airport a few years ago, where we had stopped in transit. I had lost track of time and after hearing my name on the PA system and dashing like a madwoman, I found the plane was waiting to take off because of me!

I cringe in embarrassment at the memory even now.

We learned that Emirates Airline even survived the September 2001 slump. Yes, there was a downturn for two or three months when new employment was put on hold, but it did not reduce flights or sack anyone – “people still needed to fly!” Air traffic has now resumed back to its old levels.

Other tourist attractions planned for the next few years will include the world’s largest shopping mall, the tallest tower, an underwater hotel, the Dubai Festival city, and a ski resort with artificial snow. Who says you can’t ski in the desert? Nothing, it seems, is impossible here.

Dubai is already a centre for business conferences and this aspect continues to be developed as it upgrades its modern, hi tech convention facilities.

To my question as to whether there wasn’t the possibility of over-development, the answer was no, because it has all been carefully researched and they cannot keep up with the demand as it is.

Other incentives include the opening up of the property market to foreigners. Now, even if you don’t live in Dubai, you can purchase a property, re-sell it and take the money out of Dubai again. When our group learned that there is no income or property tax, our most obvious question was: how does Dubai profit from all this?

Simple. By freeing up all the bureaucracy and red tape, rich investors are gobbling up the property at such a rate that the country’s developers cannot cope with it. This means work for the construction industry as well as all other related-industries, which in turn helps the economy. Plus, because of the safe environment in Dubai (we kept hearing how it is virtually crime-free) even people with families are tempted to re-locate to this country. Many of the high-ranking managerial staff who work with Emirates, for example, have been living here for over 15 years – even though they initially came out “for only a couple of years”.

We were shown around some model houses (bungalows and villas), which compared to our prices here were positively cheap. A five bedroom, four-bathroom villa with a yard costs roughly Lm150, 000, completely finished to high specifications. For an additional Lm4000 you can build a pool.

Members of our press group all started having mental visions of what it would be like to live there.

Maybe one day…

Josanne Cassar was the guest of Emirates Airline. Members of the press on this trip were guests at the five-star Crown Plaza Hotel