"A nation's glory is measured by it's past and present and its civilized development... the construction of the present and the planning of the future"

So said Dubai’s ruler and Prime Minister of the UAE, H.H General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

He is clearly a man of his word, since construction and planning is nowhere more evident than on the the city’s ever- changing skyline dotted with skyscrapers, bulldozers and cranes.

The world’s biggest, tallest, most expensive...These superlatives are commonly used to market Dubai’s exciting, and extreme developments. Want to hire an entire themed water park for 1000 people? No problem. Perhaps you’d like to helicopter delegates over Dubai to see a world map of man-made islands in the sea? Coming right up. You couldn’tmake these activities up if you tried, so huge is the scope of what is possible in Dubai: Quite literally anything, provided you have the spondulicks to pay for it.

Trying to describe Dubai to someone who has never been is a challenge if you don’t want to sound loopy (because seeing is believing this city is for real), but here goes: Imagine combining the desert location and outlandishness of Las Vegas with the sprawling layout (and transport problems) of LA, the affluence of Monte Carlo and the ostentation of Harrods, the cosmopolitan buzz of any major European capital teaming with expats, the zaniest parts of Disney World, and the rules and religious customs of a 21st century Arabic, Middle Eastern city – mix these together and you get somethingof an impression of Dubai today.

Yet just as Dubai is built on sand, so too will any attempt at ‘grasping’ this ever- evolving city, slip through your fingers. For Dubai is a patchwork of developments constantly being built and torn down – “Nothing is forever here, you must catch it while you can!” exclaimed our taxi driver –ironically as we sat going nowhere fast in atraffic jam (rush-hour congestion is unfortunately commonplace in Dubai).

Looking at the modern skyscrapers, luxuryhotels and colossal shopping malls, it’s hard to imagine that the United Arab Emirates’ second largest emirate (Abu Dhabi being the largest and the capital of the UAE) is a city built literally in the middle of the desert – And that up until only a few decades ago it was an area of sparse villages inhabited by herdsmen, fishermen and pearl divers.

In 2006, Dubai had 40,862 rooms in 302 hotels and 111 serviced apartment properties, and dozens of new hotels continue to spring up annually to accommodate the steep rise in business and leisurevisitors flocking to the emirate.

Far from sitting on its oil-fuelled wealth, this cosmopolitan city has sensibly and prosperously diversified into other areas, from tourism, financial and real estate, to trade, manufacturing and the service sectors. Dubai is on fire – and I’m not talking about the desert heat. Last year, it received 6.5 million visitors, a figureit aims to double by 2010. The appeal of Dubai’s super high-tech MICE venues, retail centres, world-class hotels and original incentives activities, makes it likely it will effortlessly reach its target.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to visit? Located on the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, in the south west corner of the Arabian Gulf, Dubai’senviable climate means you can bask in sunshine virtually all year round, with daily temperatures averaging 24oC in January to a sweltering 42oC in July (luckily Dubai’s air- conditioning systems aresecond to none). And with only four hours’ GMT time- difference, the jet-lag is bearable – particularly if you can flydirect and in Premium Economy comfortwith Virgin Atlantic. Which reminds me, Sir Richard Branson summed up the emirate perfectly when he said: “Everything about Dubai is slightly unreal”.