|
Dubai established itself long ago as a destination
for mega-sized sporting events. The emirate is working
its way to enhance its participation in the sporting
world by offering to the world the best of facilities
and services. Having already won acclaim as the
sporting capital of the Middle East, Dubai has raised
the bar by unveiling the world’s first integrated
purpose-designed sports city, which will be part
of the $5.7 billion Dubailand project. The emirate,
especially through the DCTM, has diversified its
appeal by catering to various aspects of tourism,
and sport is an important one.
The $2 billion Dubai Sports City is going to be
a 50 million square foot enterprise upon completion
in 2007. It has received the support of blue chip
sporting brand names as its associate partners.
It will host the first Manchester United soccer
school outside of Europe, a championship-standard
golf course designed by South African Ernie Els,
the David Lloyd tennis school, the Butch Harmon
(Tiger Wood’s swing guru) golf academy —
the first outside North America — and the International
Cricket Council.
Their endorsement of the project is a stamp on Dubai’s
credibility.
The project will feature four purpose-built venues:
an indoor arena seating 8,000; a stadium for field
hockey (10,000); a cricket stadium (25,000); and
a stadium for football, rugby and other athletics
(25,000). The project funding will come from private
investors, in addition to the sale of residential,
retail and hotel developments.
The UAE is readying itself to bid for the 2016
Summer Olympic Games via the Dubai facility. The
fast-track developments underway in Dubai, including
the recent opening of Dubai Autodrome and Business
Park as the first of Dubailand projects, have impressed
the six-time Formula 1 world champion, 35-year old
Michael Schumacher. During his latest visit to the
ever-expanding emirate, the Ferrari’s first
world champion got himself updated on the spectacular
developments.
The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing
(DTCM) Director General, Mr. Khalid A bin Sulayem,
told the Monte Carlo-based champion, “Dubai
has emerged as a popular sporting venue along with
being a perfect and safe year-round destination
for business and leisure.”
Dubai is already home to some of the world’s
prestigious sporting events like the Dubai Desert
Classic (Golf), Dubai World Cup (horse racing),
Dubai Tennis Open championship and Desert Challenge
(Motor racing). “The emirate offers excellent
infrastructure and services to the visitors,”
said Mr. Bin Sulayem. “The department is pursuing
an aggressive promotional and marketing agenda across
the world as the Emirate expands in a phased manner
to match the needs of the visitors towards quality
and variety.”
Mr. Schumacher expressed confidence that the appeal
of Dubai was bound to be enhanced with the ambitious
and innovative projects taking off, offering some
of the best facilities and services in the world.
Motor Sports Go into High
Gear
Motoring is among the most favored sports in the
emirate. In December 2003, the emirate was chosen
by the International Federation of Motorcycles (FIM)
as the venue for its World Champions’ Awards
ceremony – held for the first time outside
the traditional European venue of Monte Carlo. The
entire Autodrome and Business Park project will
have an area of approximately three square kilometers.
It will provide racing facilities approved by the
FIA and FIM, and will have a fully equipped Media
Center and control tower, along with a world-class
5.39 km, Grade 1 Racetrack and a 7,000-seat grandstand
with VIP hospitality suites. Among the events coming
up in the next year is the FIA GT Championship,
during the LG Super Racing Weekend, in October.
“I think motor sport lovers are going to have
a great time here, even for the more serious driver,
because it looks like a high-quality international
circuit,” remarked Formula One sensation Kimi
Raikkonen, after visiting the Middle East’s
first fully-integrated motor sports facility.
“Facilities like these are very good for the
sport because they help develop interest on a much
larger scale, full marks to Dubai for building a
circuit like this,” added the Finn, who finished
just two points behind Michael Schumacher in the
2003 FIA World Drivers Championship.
A new Dubai-based series, billed by organizers
as a ‘World Cup of Motor Sport’, will
start up during the European winter months when
Formula One shuts down. The A1 Grand Prix championship
had been sanctioned by the governing FIA and will
start in September 2005.
The Emirate Takes Aim at
Sports Tourism
Dubai is now regarded as one of the world’s
fastest emerging golf destinations and is also a
sought-after destination for holidays for training
sessions and the sports personalities themselves.
Bayern Munich recently utilized the emirate’s
world-class sporting facilities and hospitality
services for their off-season, offsite training
sessions.
Sport tourism sector is a novel aspect. The DTCM
considers sports to be extremely beneficial and
productive in terms of tourism as a whole. Dubai,
through hosting major events like Dubai Desert Classic,
Dubai Tennis Open, Dubai World Cup, is attracting
big names to the emirate. This in turn automatically
draws the attention and presence of the international
media, making Dubai the focus of the sporting (and
non-sporting) world. The internationally popular
stars participating in the events also bring in
their die-hard fans and sport enthusiasts to the
emirate.
Dubai is home to some of the world’s best
sporting facilities in addition to being host to
several high-profile global sporting events like
the Dubai Desert Classic and Dubai World Cup. Impressed
by the superb and fascinating infrastructure and
recreational facilities in Dubai, a number of sportsmen
have made Dubai their second home by acquiring freehold
properties. Almost every big name from the sporting
world has played in Dubai – and returned home
with fond memories of the fascinating and buoyant
city.
A number of prominent personalities from the world
of sports have taken it a step further. The World’s
Footballer of the Year, Zenidine Zidane, and football
legend Luis Figo chose Dubai for their holidays
in 2003. Zidane earlier expressed his plan to acquire
a free-hold villa at The Palm, the multi-million
dollar waterfront development that has already attracted
the attention of world’s top footballers, including
David Beckham and Michael Own.
“We have come to enjoy the magic of the place,
have fun, and relax,” remarked Mr. Figo prior
to being shuttled from the award-winning Dubai International
Airport to another Dubai icon, Burj Al Arab hotel.
In separate visits, both footballers were given
a tour of the DIMC, established in 1988 by the Dubai
government to promote and develop water sports such
as rowing, jet skiing, sailing and powerboat racing.
It is the first Arab organisation to be granted
full membership of Union Internationale Motonautique
(UIM), the governing body of Motorised Water sports
in the world.
Sports are Part of Overall
Tourism Strategy
The department’s continuous support to the
Dubai Desert Classic emanates from its commitment
to further promote Dubai, encourage sports and facilitate
the work of media. The emirate has all the facilities
and services required for hosting challenging events,
be it indoors or off-road.
Horse racing is part of Dubai’s heritage.
The Dubai World Cup is very much the flagship event
of UAE horse racing and the climax of the racing
calendar and patterns series. It forms the world’s
richest race meeting and the world’s richest
race.
The Dubai World Cup meeting is the single richest
day of racing in the world, and is the final race
day of the inaugural Dubai International Racing
Carnival. This event had a total of 55 races over
a nine-week period in the run up to the world cup.
The $15.25-million Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) programme
drew 986 nominations from 25 countries, including
the top four finishers in the 2003 Breeders’
Cup Classic (G1), who were among a number of invitees
to the world’s richest race, the $6-million
Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1).
The 2004 edition of the world-class Dubai Tennis
Championships attracted players from 21 countries.
Five of the world’s top 10 players attended
the 2004 Open, one of the strongest in its four-year
history.
The Dubai Tennis Stadium, the venue for the two
weeks of the championships, was decked up to receive
some of the top players on the WTA and ATP Tours,
including the world’s No.1 Justine Henin-Hardenne,
Venus Williams, Amelie Mauresmo, Jennifer Capriati,
Japan’s Ai Sugiyama and Yugoslavia’s Jelena
Dokic.
|
