A serious word of warning. Do not believe anything that you read about Dubai in the press or any other official publication. There is a lot that happens here that is not reported and is 'hidden.' I know that this goes on elsewhere, but do not believe that Dubai is Nirvana, Utopia or however else you want your 'Heaven' to be described.
There are more murders than are reported. Source? I am close friends with a senior member of staff at the British Embassy. Although this is primarily 'in-fighting' between Russians, Pakistanis etc. the fact is that there is violent crime here, it just gets hushed up.
There are more robberies that get covered up by the authorities due to them not wanting the 'real Dubai' to get written about. Source? As above, as well as victims of two recent crimes.
Traffic is an absolute nightmare. Source? I suffer from it myself daily. Just search on the web for 'Traffic Dubai.'
Prostitution is rampant. Not even in Bangkok will you go into a bar and five girls walk up to you and ask you if you would like a F$@k. Yes, there are clean bars but there are a lot of sleazy bars. Where in the world, the Muslim world for goodness' sake, can you enter a club that is solely there for the purpose of providing prostitutes? Do a Google search on The Cyclone and York Hotel in Dubai! Of course, this might be an attraction to some of you.
Other than Beach (although they are dissapearing rapidly as beach front developments are being built) and Golf, there is little in the way of outdoor activities. Sports are not that well catered for but if you like shopping, then this is the place for you! We have more malls per square mile than anywhere I have ever been to! But careful of the prices, a lot of things here are now more expensive than the US and UK.
Just as many western civilisations were built by slaves, so is Dubai today. The general workforce here are treated appalingly, the salaries are really bad and their working and living conditions terrible.
Dubai is a relatively good place to start a family, to educate small kids, but teenagers suffer here as there is so little to do.
Look, I am not trying to dissuade anyone from coming here. I welcome with open arms other pilots in order that our work load can start to decrease, but I would be wrong in supporting Dubai as some kind of model city. The EK and Dubai
PR machines are very powerful. The pages of the holiday brochures are testament to this as they show the beach hotels as they were three years ago, prior to the building of the various projects along the coast. But one thing that cannot be ignored is that despite the numbers of tourists Dubai welcomes every year, very few are coming back for a second holiday.