Sultan Billed as Grinch by Telegraph

The Telegraph ran the story "Sultan Ruins Christmas in Oman" today, regarding the slide of the Gulf Cooperation Council summit from late-November to the holiday timeframe. The Royal Diwan sent out notice to the leading hotels that Christmas bookings must be cleared out for the summit attendees, evidently leading to some disgruntled British holiday travelers. Unfortunately, the article was mute on why the summit was slid. While I can understand the traveler's anger, Oman's hosting of the GCC summit is no trivial matter. Oman needs to get the reasons for this change out into the presses in order to mitigate the bad PR and its effect on the tourism industry. I haven't had a chance to research the reason for the slide. Any insight?

Once the Jinn is out of the Bottle...

Dubai has recently cracked down on "lewd" behavior that is contrary to the city-state's morals. See the UAE Community Blog for a set of links to news articles.

But once the proverbial jinn is out of the bottle, can it be stuffed back in? Dubai wants to sell itself as a world tourism and business destination. In becoming what almost everyone describes as Las Vegas without casinos, though, Dubai has also sold its soul to a degree. It may be a bit late to correct course to try to be a "conservative" tourism and business destination.

Oman's slow, but steady and staid course may look a lot more intelligent in coming years. Financial Times reports:

Oman is developing itself as an upmarket tourist destination with a focus on culture and adventure, as distinct from the more commercial offerings of its immediate neighbours, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. ...
Salim al-Mamari, director general of tourism promotion, says Oman has taken a "different approach" to tourism development. "We are paying attention to maintaining our identity. We are not into mass tourism. We are looking for responsible tourism, meaning those who can help me maintain Oman as it is."

One has to respect Oman and Omanis for telling it like it is, avoiding soul-selling greed, and aiming for a development model that they can live with for the long term...

Dubai Resident Visas

This story from the UAE Community Blog is a perfect example of the difficulties cities like Dubai are going to face in trying to be a world-class tourist and business destinations without having first developed rational institutions and a public educated and invested in the process of modernization. Current confusion on visa rules threatens to shut out some expats who have bought property but cannot get resident visas.

Stories like this should give pause to anyone who thinks that Dubai is on the fast track to first-class status as a business or tourism center. Once the glitter of the big buildings and opulent development wears off, one must realize that you cannot trust the government and the citizens to provide you with a safe, stable, predictable, and amenable work and living environment over the long term. Until attitudes and institutions change, these bases of first-class business and tourism centers cannot be guaranteed in Dubai. Things can still change overnight there, and speculators stand to lose their shirt if the wind shifts.