Running until 14 March, this year's event will celebrate the city's culinary diversity drawn from the UAE and the cultures of over 200 nationalities in Dubai and also give residents, visitors and foodies an insight into the latest tastes and trends from the global gastronomy scene.
The 18-day food festival will offer an appealing range of mouth-watering events including annual favourites like Dubai Restaurant Week, Beach Canteen, Hidden Gems and Foodie Experiences. It will feature masterclasses, chef tables and unique dining fare as well as appearances by celebrity chefs, food-related events and promotions at malls, restaurants, hypermarkets and much more.
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Something for everyone
It's hard to know how to describe Dubai. Brash, indulgent, glamorous, and progressive are words that spring to mind, perhaps even glitzy. Yet its history is plain to see and in contrast to the abundance of services available for tourists and business travellers, the culture of locals is deeply rooted in their Islamic traditions. The result is a curious blend of Arabian Nights and Western-style enterprise. Ultimately, Dubai has something for everyone and, perhaps surprisingly, it's a great place for families.
Major attractions that must be seen include:
- Burj Khalifa, which at almost 830 metres is still the world's tallest building
- Dubai Mall, where, paradoxically, you can ice skate while it's 50 degrees C outside
- Dubai Museum, located in Al-Fahidi Fort
- Bastakia, or Old Dubai
- Deira, with its gold and spice souks
- Palm Jumeira, a palm tree-shaped artificial archipelago on reclaimed land
With some 300 hotels to choose from the only accommodation problem is actually making a choice. I've stayed at the Radisson Blu and other hotels around Deira Creek, an area I like, but I'm going to try the Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights on my next visit in May.
Setting records, winning awards
Last year Dubai welcomed an all-time high 16.73 million international overnight visitors, an impressive 5.1 per cent increase in tourism volumes, definitively surpassing the global tourism growth forecast by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation by over one per cent.
Dubai was also ranked the world's fourth most visited city for the fifth consecutive year by MasterCard's Global Destination Cities Index 2019.
Impressive growth is evidenced by Dubai's top six source markets – India, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Oman, China and Russia - delivering over seven million visitors in 2019, with nine of the top 10 countries crossing half a million visitors each for the first time, highlighting the robust diversity of Dubai's base for tourist attraction.
And to top off a year of achievement, Dubai celebrated two award wins at the 26th annual World Travel Awards, cementing the emirate's standing as a world class business travel and business events destination. Dubai demonstrated industry excellence as the World's Leading Business Travel Destination 2019 and the World's Leading MICE Destination 2019 for the second consecutive year, recognising the city's robust capabilities to cater to a wide range of global travel and business events.