Economic Impact: Dubai Dubai is the largest of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates. It is quickly growing into a huge tourist spot and prides itself on having some of the world’s greatest attractions. However, sometimes having the best comes with consequences. Despite the Middle East’s relatively low tourist rate, Dubai had been able to attract many “big spenders,” which has enhanced its economy, but can also take a toll on the people.
In her article, “Tourism in Dubai,” Joan Henderson calls the Middle East, “one of the least developed tourism regions in the world” (Henderson, 2006). However, Abdul Basit of the Khaleej Times reports that, “a strong and dynamic tourism sector has placed Dubai among the top 10 most visited
Dubai’s rapid economic growth has lead the economy into massive amounts of debt. The global downturn of the market in 2008 has taken its toll on Dubai’s economy and put a halt on many construciton projects. Many economist fear that Dubai will only prosper as long as it continues to grow and expand. As of 2009 the city had a population of 1.3 million. In 2020 the population needs to be 4 million in order to fill all the developments that were being constructed (Whitelaw, 2008).
The debt problem Dubai is facing is the most obvious negative impact to hit their economy, but there are other negative impacts on the economy from the tourism industry that are not so obvious. Prostitution and human trafficing has become a large industry in Dubai. Less than 1 in 8 residents of Dubai are citizens of the United Arib Emirates. Guest workers from South Asia make up 60% of the population. Working conditions for guest workers are not favorable. The average worker makes $175 a month and works 12 hour days. Labor strikes have become common in Dubai because many guest workers feel trapped. If a worker is fired they lose their work visa immediately and have to ruturn home (Whitelaw, 2008). Most guest workers live in squat building along dirt roads in conditions that most would consider untolerable, but because of inflation rates that have been as high as 15%, the squat homes are