Whilst I agree with most things posted in regard to EK and Dubai, I really don't think that the success of Emirates has anything to do with the success (or failure) of Dubai.
Emirates has really built its success purely using Dubai as a Hub connecting passengers to wherever they want to go in the world. True, they have tried to market Dubai in a massive way with many thousands of free hotel rooms etc, but many people stay for 2 or 3 days just to have a "look".
I would be interested in finding out the average length of stay in Dubai for passengers inbound to Dubai. I would say that an overwhelming percentage of EK passengers are transit, and nothing else.
Dubai needs EK, and EK really only needs DXB Int'l.
Cav.