Results tagged “United Arab Emirates” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Ah Dubai, it seems every time we hear news about the fine city, it's always some over-the-top project that aims to surpass some other over-the-top project announced last month. So I was glad to hear news that the latest idea to surface is a sustainable tourism initiative - the industry is taking steps to protect their environment, reduce CO2 emissions, and lower utility costs. Travel Mole reports:

A detailed roadmap, with clear phases, timelines, target dates, and benchmarks aimed at progressing the initiative for sustainable tourism, will be communicated to all of Dubai's hotels and hotel-apartments shortly.

Some of the hotels which have signed-up so far include, Emirates Towers, Madinat Jumeirah, Movenpick Hotel and The One & Only Royal Mirage.

Dubai hotels generally still lag behind their counterparts in Europe, where the average hotel produces 3,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum. In Dubai that figure is 6,500 tonnes and the size of the carbon footprint produced by all hotels in Dubai, is well over 500 million kilos a year.

It's an important step, and we're excited to see them adopting smart principles.

Photo: The "fronds" of the $14-billion Palm Jumeirah in Dubai by Alexander Heilner via National Geographic Magazine's Visions of Earth

While development projects are being delayed and tourism numbers are expected to plummet, the United Arab Emirates sees the crashing economy as a blessing in disguise, the New York Times' Michael Slackman reports. Finally, native Emiratis say, they have a chance to reclaim their identity, which has become endangered by the influx of foreigners who have come to capitalize on the nation's booming economy. Many natives are hoping to see some of these foreigners leave, allowing them to regain a cultural foothold in their own homeland. As the country with the world's largest per-capita ecological footprint, perhaps this economic cool-down can quell a culture in crisis.

It is estimated that Emirati natives, who have nomadic Bedouin lineage, make up only 10 percent of the UAE population today. Several spoke fervently with Slackman about their fleeting traditions. "We are Bedouins, developed Bedouins, but we still have our traditions. It's all changing and disappearing," one says in the article.

Read the entire article here. IT wants to know: Where do you see the Emirates' future going? Will natives be able to reclaim part of their identity as the economy tumbles?