Dubai remains the most favourite destination for Indians in general and Keralites in particular when they contemplate a foreign tour. The statistics show that 5,64,836 Indians visited Dubai till April this year. Some of the factors attracting Indians to Dubai are low costs of travel and stay, proximity to India, excellent facilities and infrastructure, safe and secure environment and ready availability of Indian cuisine including Kerala cuisine among others. The enchanting and exciting theme parks, water parks, joyrides, beaches etc. also lure the tourists.
The Dubai Tourism Department has significant presence in the tourism promotion fairs conducted in India. Dubai shopping festival, Dubai food festival, Dubai summer surprises, The Marmoom camel race, The Hatta Heritage Village, Cruise tourism, Eco tourism, Dubai Safari, Dubai Frame etc. are actively promoted. The Indians including Keralites working in Europe and Africa also visit Dubai for shopping etc. while travelling to and from India.
Theme parks with thrilling rides
Dubai has raced ahead as the international hub for theme parks, adventure parks and water parks for all age groups. The water theme parks rich in rides hitherto unseen in the Middle-East fetch a lot of tourists during summers. There is a perennial flow of tourists to the indoor theme parks that are among some of the finest in the world.
The Dubai parks
This is a spot with three theme parks and a water park. 'The Motiongate' has Hollywood movies and stars as the theme. The Bollywood Park has the theme of Bollywood movies and India. The other attractions in this park include real-time presentation of Bollywood films, the associated rides and theatre complexes.
There is presentation of Indian cultural festival every day. This includes art forms from Kerala. Installations with Lego bricks and the associated adventure rides are liked by children and adults alike. The stamps of Dubai’s identity such as Burj Khaleefa, Burj Al Arab, desert safari etc. are represented here in Lego bricks.
The superhero IMG World
The IMG World attracts tourists with a reputation of it being the biggest Indoor Theme Park in the world. This wonderland, spread across 15 lakh square feet is near the Global Village. Dinosaurs, Spiderman, Ironman and numerous cartoon characters will give the visitors an excitingly different experience. You can fly about or rush past obstacles to the accompaniment of light and sound in various rides here. There is also a multiplex with the most advanced technology. The 30 odd food outlets in the food court of IMG World offer a large variety of foods.
‘The Lost Valley Zone’ is a theme ride through the world of humongous, moving dinosaurs which use the most advanced animatronics. Forestlands and tunnels also form a part of this ride.
The Palm Atlantis Waterpark
This water theme park is attached to the Atlantis Hotel. The chief attraction here is the water themed adventure and leisure rides named ‘Aquaventure’, sprawling across 42 acres of land. ‘The Ambassador Lagoon’, the largest aquarium in the Middle-East is in Palm Atlantis. More than 100 varieties of sea creatures can be seen here. Another attraction is the ‘Dolphin Bay’ spread over 11 acres. Besides these, the ‘Wild Wadi Water Park’, ‘Lagoona Water Park’, ‘La Mer’ beach etc. also attract a large number of tourists.
