"Shell" programmes are also available with as much or as little unallocated time as required. These are becoming increasingly popular as Dubai makes its mark as a conference and incentive travel destination. All the leading inbound tour operators, offer tours, ranging from a couple of hours to several days, devoted to special interest activities, sightseeing or exploring neighbouring emirates.

Dubai has a number of highly professional inbound tour-operators offering a range of services both for the travel trade and individual tourists.

The major companies are well-equipped to provide overseas tour operators with a full destination management service covering hotel bookings, airport transfers, ground transport and a daily programme of tours and activities with multilingual guides. They can also offer the required expertise for organising business-related travel, including original and exciting incentive programmes.

All leading inbound tour-operators offer a range of standardised tours. The following are among the most popular.

           City Tours

Dubai’s tour companies offer a variety of city tours of different durations and at different times of the day.

As the city is compact and the roads good, it is possible to take in most of the city’s major landmarks and sights within a matter of hours. These would include the Creek, the souks, dhow-building yards, Sheikh Saeed’s House, the windtower houses of Bastakiya, Dubai Museum, Dubai World Trade Centre, Jumeirah Mosque and the stunning golf courses.

 

          Shopping Tours

Specialised shopping tours offer an introduction to selected souks and major shopping areas in Dubai and nearby Sharjah. Such tours are especially attractive to visitors with limited time to organise their own shopping expeditions. For more details on goods and bargains, see Shopper’s Paradise.

 

        Creek Tours

An imaginative way of seeing Dubai is to take a tour of the Creek by traditional wooden dhow or cabin cruiser. Most of the major landmarks can be seen from the waterway. Daytime or evening cruises are available with food and beverages on board.

 

Desert Safaris

No visit to Dubai would be complete without a trip into the desert. Such excursions, which are best organised as part of a group tour, offer a taste of the true heartland of Arabia.

The majesty and tranquillity of the desert can be experienced in a choice of exciting half-day, full-day and overnight safaris. These action-packed trips cover varied terrain ranging from desert to mountain and take in remote camel and goat farms and isolated villages. Highlights of a safari in Dubai may include the following:

Dune driving: Driving in sand is an adventure in itself, combining the excitement of a rollercoaster ride with the challenge of remaining mobile on the shifting surface. Courses in sand driving are available, with four-wheel-drive vehicles provided along with expert instruction.

Camel riding: The camel, a symbol of Arabia, is also a major tourist attraction. Camel rides are part of some tours and desert safaris. Tour operators and hotels can also arrange camel rides separately.

Exploring the wadis: A popular pastime with both residents and visitors is known as wadi-bashing — exploring the wadis or dry beds of streams that flow after the winter rains from the Hajar mountains. Many wadis offer scenes of unexpected beauty: attractive rock pools, some with water year-round, surrounded by greenery. Four-wheel-drive vehicles are required and are available for hire with or without drivers.

Sand-skiing: Those with a taste for speed, and enthusiasm for an unusual sport will enjoy sand-skiing down the dunes of Dubai desert. Special skis are used and high dunes in the interior of the desert are chosen as slopes. Sand-skiing can be arranged on request or as part of a full-day or half-day safari.

Desert feasts: Particularly popular are safaris that culminate in the evening with spectacular sunset views followed by a traditional Arabian barbecue under the stars. These can be tailored to meet every taste from a romantic and peaceful experience to elaborate fun-packed evenings complete with music, belly-dancing, the smoking of hubble-bubble pipes and often a display of falconry.

Bedouin village: Some local tour operators offer the opportunity to visit a Bedouin village outside Dubai. This provides an experience of the traditional desert way of life and may include camel-riding lessons.

Those who want a desert safari experience with a difference may choose to stay at Al Maha, a unique luxury resort set in 3,300 acres of dunes off the highway between Dubai and Al Ain. Al Maha combines tourism with conservation, with a five-year animal reintroduction programme that will eventually see the endangered Arabian oryx roaming free among gazelles, ostriches, Arabian foxes and caracals.

 

Camel Racing

 

A trip to the camel races, which take place on Thursdays and Fridays during the winter months, can be one of the most memorable highlights of any visit to Dubai.

At the racetrack on the fringe of the city, the races are vigorous and exciting and a village fair atmosphere prevails around the track with vendors offering blankets, rugs, beads and a variety of other rural wares spread on the ground. Owners urge jockeys on to the finish line while trainers speedily follow the races in four-wheel drives which plough through the dust of the inside track. The atmosphere is contagious!

 

Horse Racing

The sport of kings has rapidly become Dubai’s most popular spectator event, attracting crowds of over 15,000.

Race meetings are held weekly during the cooler months at one of the UAE’s four racecourses. Dubai Racing Club, at Nad Al Sheba, the country’s largest and most spectacular track and home to the Dubai World Cup — the sport’s richest race — also holds meetings at night under floodlights.

Bird-watching Tours

With nearly 400 species of birds observed in the emirate, Dubai attracts many bird-watchers. Customised bird-watching tours range from a day or two to a week or more, and take in the full range of landscapes, from parks and golf clubs, to desert, mountain and Creek.

 

Dubai by Air

Visitors with a head for heights and a weakness for the dramatic, can enjoy the excitement of a helicopter tour over the city. Alternatively, visitors can enjoy city or desert tours in a fixed-wing aircraft.

 

Abu Dhabi

The UAE capital is only two hours’ drive from Dubai city. Attractions include the Petroleum Exhibition, which offers an audio-visual presentation covering the development of the city and the White Fort — the original home of the rulers. Tours also visit the scenic Corniche, the dhow-building yard and other places of interest, and often climax with a dramatic view of the sunset at Breakwater Point.

Al Ain

Caravans have stopped to rest at the Al Ain oasis since time immemorial. A tour of this picturesque region of Abu Dhabi emirate takes in the ancient oasis of Buraimi; the archaeological finds at Hili, some of which date back more than 5,000 years; the Hili Fun City amusement park with its wide range of rides and amusements, picnic areas, ice rink, landscaped gardens and mini train; Al Ain Zoo, with its flock of miniature penguins and the world’s largest herd of the endangered Arabian Oryx and the Ain Al Fayda resort built around a natural hot spring.

Of particular interest is a drive up the winding road of Jebel Hafeet — the UAE’s highest mountain peak — from where viewing points offer spectacular views of the resort and surrounding copper-coloured desert.

The Northern Emirates

Tours are available to the emirates north of Dubai — Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah. Among the main attractions are the spectacular Sharjah souks, Ajman’s dhow-building yards and palace museum and the fertile agricultural area of Umm Al Quwain’s Falaj Al Mualla.

Ras Al Khaimah is an ancient seaport which juts out into theGulf close to the Strait of Hormuz on the northernmost tip of the UAE, opposite Bandar Abbas in Iran. Tourists can explore the old town and its picturesque museum, take in the beauty of the surrounding mountains and visit a number of interesting archaeological sites.

East Coast

Nestling in the shadow of the magnificent Hajar mountains which straddle the UAE and Oman, the East Coast lies on the Gulf of Oman. The two main centres are Khorfakkan and Fujairah.

A day tour to the area may include a trip inland through the wadis and rock gorges of the mountains and then down into Khorfakkan and its natural harbour with time for swimming, pausing at the Badiyah mosque — the oldest in the UAE — the old fort at Fujairah and the citadel at Bitnah.

Oman

It is possible to visit Oman from Dubai in a single day. However, such a brief visit hardly does justice to the attractions of this scenic neighbouring Arab country.

Most Dubai-based tour operators will organise tours covering the Muscat region with its ancient history, and other attractions such as Salalah, home of the frankincense tree, and dhow sailing along the Batinah coast.

             Hatta

One hour’s drive from Dubai city is the ancient fortress village of Hatta, home of the Hatta Fort Hotel, currently Dubai’s only mountain resort complex.

The drive is as fascinating as the destination itself, taking the visitor through burnished sand dunes and mountains of varied colour. Tours cover the recently-renovated old fort and a trip through Wadi Hatta with its lush greenery and diverse wildlife. The village, which is more than 200 years old, and Juma Mosque, which stands amid palm groves, are other tourist attractions.