Comparative Analysis of the three rising stars of Asia- Hong Kong, Singapore & Dubai

        Fig 1: Skyline of Singapore. Source: Wikipedia                                                                    

Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai are three major city states, of international standing in Asia. All of them have undergone a phenomenal growth in the last few decades and plays a very pivotal role in the economy of their respective nations and even regions. Considered among some of the best marketed destinations in the globe; they bring in a huge amount of investments along with human capital. All these three city states constantly feature among the list of top 10, most visited cities in the world. The following blog will do a comparative analysis of the following places across a wide range of qualitative as well as quantitative parameters.

Introduction

·         Dubai: is one of the most well marketed destinations, across the globe. In the three decades, the small emirate has seen itself leapfrogging from a sleepy town to one of the biggest success saga of Middle East. Placed between the cross roads of East and West, Dubai is also sometimes known as the gateway of the Middle East to the world. The biggest strength of Dubai lies in its visionary and extremely efficient leadership and liberal culture, helping it attract expats from all over the world. It is among the very first Gulf States, that has successfully diversified its economy into various sectors such as-tourism, real estates, retail, trade, media, financial services etc.  The very first thing that comes to mind with brand Dubai is the state of art real estate constructions. Dubai boasts some of the biggest, most expensive, state of the art buildings, hotels and real estate assignments- Al Burj, Burj Khalifa, Palm islands etc. Other than these world famous  landmarks Dubai offers plethora of state of the art shopping malls, amusement parks, museums, resorts and spa, golf courses, sports stadiums, convention centers etc.

 

·         Singapore: the small city state which once got freedom in 1963 from Malaysia; is not only among one of the most visited cities across the globe; but also an epicenter of trade, commerce, finance, technology and innovation. Considered among the biggest success sagas of 20^th centuries, Singapore had witnessed an average growth rate of 7.9 percentages, since 1963.  The Singapore’s success story is based on four pillars- liberal govt. policies, skilled workforce, state of the art sea ports and strategic location. During the time of 60’s and 70’s when this tiny state was suffering from high unemployment, liberal policy frame work was put in place, along with investments in labor incentive industries. In the later stage, Singapore successfully transformed itself from a labor incentive industry to an innovation driven industry. Today it is home to around 500 financial institutions and most of the MNCs of the world. It also has a numero uno position in the “ease of doing business index”. (World Bank data, 2010) Singapore is also great tourist hub with state of the art hotels, resorts, shopping malls, casinos etc. In 2009, it received 9.7 million tourists and was among the list of most visited cities in the world. (annual report on tourism statistics 2009, 2011)

·         Hong Kong: it’s a place where East meets the West. Before being handed over to China in 1997, Hong Kong was under British Rule. Even today other than foreign relations and military defense, it maintains a high degree of autonomy. In contrast to mainland China, it enjoys a capitalist structure marked by free trade and low taxation. It is considered as one of the freest economies of the world. Famous economist Milton Friedman once described that if someone wants to see free economy, he should go to go to Hong Kong. Like Singapore it is a major trade and financial center. Like the other three Asian tigers (Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea) Hong Kong underwent industrialization during 60’s and successfully transformed into a service sector economy during 80’s. In 2010 service sector has accounted for 92.5 percentage of GDP, against Industry contributing just 7.4 percentages. (CIA World Fact Book, 2010). A blend of Chinese and Western culture, Hong Kong is also a fabulous tourist destination attracting tourists from all over the globe.     

Demographics

All these three places are trade centers and financial capitals of their respective regions, besides being great tourist destinations; there by attracting a large number of expats- businessmen, travelers, working professionals, academicians, celebrities etc. According to the survey conducted by Dubai Statistics Center in 2006, 17 percentages of the population consists of local Emiratis. 71 percentages of the population consist of Asian which mainly includes- Indian, Pakistani, Srilankan, etc. 3 percentage of population has been categorized as Western.  In contrast to this in Hong Kong, according to 2006 census 95 percentages of the work force is Chinese followed by Filipino (1.6 percentage), Indonesian (1.3 percentage) and others 2.1 percentage. (Index Mundi, 2011). In Singapore out of the total population of 5.08 million, 3.77 million are Singapore residents against 1.31 million foreign residents. (Comprising of tourists) Out of 3.77 million, residents 3.23 million are citizens where as 0.54 millions are permanent residents. Major ethnic communities include Chinese, Malay, and Indians etc. 0.3 percentage of the population can be categorized as Western.  (Department of statistics Singapore, 2011) 

 

Fig 2: compares the population of three states for the year 2010. Source of data: Dubai Statistics center, Singapore Statistics center and CIA World fact book.

Fig 3: shows the population of the three city states in millions, over the period of time. Source of data: Hong Kong year book, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Department of Statistics Singapore

Table 1: compares the three city states across various parameters. Reference year: 2010; Source of data: US department of State, Index Mundi etc

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                Table 2: compares the three city states across geographical parameters.

Economics

The following section will compare the three city states across some of the economic parameters- Gross Domestic product (GDP), Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), Cost of living Index etc.

Fig 3: showing the GDP of the three city states, US $ billions, for the year 2010. Source: CIA Fact Book, Al Arabia news.

Fig 4: showing the GDP growth rate of the three city states in the past few years. Source: World Bank, Dubai Statistics Center.

Fig 5: showing FDI inflow of the three city states in US $ billions, over the last 6 years. Source: World Bank, Dubai Statistics center.

Table 3: compares the 3 city states across various cost of living indices. Source: NUMBEO

Tourism statistics

Other than being epicenter of trade, commerce and financial activities, the three states are also considered among some of the greatest tourist destinations in the globe. Constantly featuring among the top 10 most visited cities in the globe, they have some of the most magnificent hotels, resorts, casinos, convention centers, amusement parks etc. The following line graph of the report will compare the 3 city states in terms of annual tourist arrivals

Fig 6: showing annual arrival of tourists in millions. Source: Dubai Tourism and Commercial Marketing (DTCM), Press releases by Hong Kong tourism board, Singapore Tourism Board. The comparatively higher figure for Hong Kong is on account on Chinese travelers, which account for approximately 2/3^rd of tourist arrival. 

BRAND ESSENCE

This part of the report will try figuring out one word, which can describe the brand of these city states.

Dubai had successfully ventured into wide range of activities ranging from various forms of tourism (leisure, shopping, sports, cultural, dessert, business etc); trade, businesses, industries etc; but one word describing brand Dubai can be luxury. It’s a place where modern day dynamism blends well with traditional Arabic tranquility. Be it the state of the art hotels or resorts; shopping malls or villas; everywhere Dubai reflects luxury. For Singapore, that one word could be innovation. Singapore is the hub of high tech innovation. According to Global Innovation Index 2011, Singapore has been ranked as 3^rd most innovative nation in the world and 1^st in Asia. (Sgentrepreneurs.com, 2011). Similarly one word that can reflect the brand essence of city state Hong Kong could be liberty. Hong Kong is one of the most free and liberal states in the world. It practices liberty in almost every sphere of life- economic, social, political, etc. It offers a top notch living conditions or its residents. Ranked 13^th on the Human Development Index, it is one of the best places to live. Singapore has a rank of 26, whereas Dubai (UAE) has a rank of 30. (Human Development Index and its Component, 2011)

Fig 8: Shows the brand essence of the three city states in one word.

ANALYSIS & conclusion

The given report had tried analyzing the three city states of Asia across various parameters related to demography, economy, tourism etc. With the help of various charts it could be seen that Dubai is still catching up with the Singapore and Hong Kong and will take some time to reach their level. Dubai is an Emirate with extremely big ambitions. For instance by 2015, the Dubai Tourism and Commercial Marketing aims at reaching an annual tourist arrival of 15 million. Though time will tell how far Dubai will excel to realize this ambition; but if realized Dubai will be the most visited tourist destination in the world. Similarly in other spheres also the 2nd largest emirate of UAE holds huge ambitions. Exp: Jebel Ali, the largest man made harbor is also undergoing expansion and once completed in 2030, it is expected to be the biggest container port in the world.



The social and economic structures of these three city states have their own similarities as well as differences. Singapore and Hong Kong are quite synonymous to each other in terms of knowledge economy, high degree of social freedom & liberty and international trade centers; Dubai offers a slightly different case. Though Dubai has successfully diversified its economy (presently Hydrocarbons account for only 2.1 percentage of GDP, contrary to 1985, when it had a giant share of 55 percentages) into real estate, trade and tourism; it is still far behind from becoming a knowledge economy. Similarly in terms of demographic break up, Dubai’s economy is completely dependent on expats, in contrast to local Emiratis which constitute only 17 percentage of population. (Dubaidreams.net, 2011). It is the other way round in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Table 4: shows the diminishing percentage of oil in Dubai’s GDP. Source: USA Today, AME info.com, Dubai Chamber of Commerce

Dubai has its own advantage. It is yet to realize its full potential and hence has a long way to go. In the form of its ambitious 2015 plan, it aims at implementing strong social and economic reforms and transformations. It is one of the fastest growing Emirates and prior to the economic crisis that led to real estate bust; it was enjoying a double digit growth rate. Considered as an epicenter of trade, finance, investments, culture and tourism in the Middle East region, it had help attracting a lot of investments, trade and human capital for the region.

If IT and Technology defines Singapore and Hong Kong; real estate defines Dubai.  It is marked by luxury, which gets reflected in the wide range of high profile construction projects incubated by the Emirate. One of the reasons, it can accommodate such projects, is the availability of large amount of free space. While Singapore and Hong Kong are becoming vertical cities, Dubai still enjoys a population density of 408 per square Kilometer, much lesser than most of the major cities in the world. It is also comparatively economical in comparison to the other two cities. (as shown in table 3). In a nutshell, Dubai has carved a unique niche for itself. Created amidst a dessert, it has successfully transformed itself from a sleepy oil rich emirate, where once hydrocarbon accounted for more than 50 percentage of GDP to one of the most economically diversified and socially liberal state in the region.

In terms of political structure Dubai and Singapore share a similar kind of structure. Both of them are blessed with visionary political leadership, which played a pivotal role in their exorbitant growth. They have got an extremely efficient political and bureaucratic apparatus, known for executing big projects swiftly. Contrary to this in Hong Kong, govt. has a minimal role to play in the economic ambit. In fact Hong Kong has one of the most liberal economies across the globe.   


In spite of having differences across various economic and social parameters, there are lots of things common in the three states. On Economic front, all of them have liberal economic policies marked by low tax and tariff rates, helping them attract a large amount of investments and top notch human capital. All of them have shown phenomenal growth rate in the recent past. They share a lot of similarities in terms of landscape and geography. They are islands, have extended coastlines, and are situated in strategic locations, which helped them morphed into excellent trading centers. Not blessed with much of exotic natural landscapes, they made huge investments in developing state of the art hotels, beach resorts, golf courses, convention centers, shopping malls; there by transforming into magnificent leisure and business tourism destination. High tourist arrivals have also been very advantageous for their retail sector. On social front, all three of them are marked by open and liberal cosmopolitan culture, attracting expats from all over the globe and providing a platform to grow and flourish. This ability of attracting diversified human resource from various parts of globe had eventually been very beneficial to them.



The three city states converges as well as diverges across different parameters; but one thing that is common to all is the phenomenal success story they have scripted for themselves in such a small interval of time. They came from nowhere and today are destinations of international standing. These city states, developed from scratch, are product of- strategic planning, die hard entrepreneurial spirit and openness towards change. Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai-these are the rising stars of the East, without any substantial past, but definitely with an illustrious present and future.
 

Analysis of emerging tourism industry of Qatar

                                   fig 1: Doha golf club (source: www.marriott.com) 

Qatar, the second fastest growing economy last year, is attracting a lot of attention from all around the world. Doha, the capital of this US $ 133 Billion economy has catapulted itself into a lavish city, from a sluggish one, within a decade. The success saga of Qatar could not escape from the eyes of the given website and a detailed analysis has been done (The detailed analysis could be found in following link http://themanagmentguru.blogspot.com/2011/02/qatar-past-present-and-future-strategy.html) . The given blog will analyze the emerging tourism sector of Qatar and will be benchmarking its capital Doha against another oil rich emirate, Abu Dhabi. On account of its burgeoning GDP & rapid business growth, Doha aspires to replace Dubai as the capital of Middle East. This might be a possibility in other fields but in tourism, where the Emirate state receives more than 10 million tourists a year, it is far from reality. The tourism industry in Qatar, where 95% of tourists are business travelers, is still in its inception stage and has a long way to go.

Tourism Industry: General overview

In Qatar, where petroleum constitutes 70% of its govt. revenue and 85% of export has ambitious plans for diversifying into various other alternate sectors. Tourism is one of them. Though tourism sector at Qatar is not very matured, it surely is high up on the govt. agenda, and is attracting huge investments, direct as well as indirect.

In 2009, Qatar’s total tourism revenue had been US $ 0.7 billion, lagging behind Bahrain’s US $ 1.1 billion and UAE’s US $ 7.2 Billion (Euromonitor blog, 2010). The biggest driving force for the sector is Qatar winning the bid to host football World Cup, which is considered as the biggest sporting event across the world, in the year 2022. Qatar is the 1st Arab state to host such a huge sports event and this will surely enhance the tourism industry. To prepare for the World Cup, Qatar is in quest of huge investments in infrastructure, hotels, and sporting utilities.

Some of the major infrastructure projects include Lusail city, Qatar Entertainment City, US $ 20 billion Pearl Project, Qatar Metro Project, International airports, football stadiums etc. The following figure shows the inflow of tourists over the period of time. The slight spike in 2006 over 2004 is on the account of Asian games 2006, conducted in Doha.

                                               fig 2: Inflow of tourists in millions

(Source of data: Euromonitor Blog)

Qatar is vigorously building new hotels to bolster its emerging tourism industry. So far it is has a wide range of luxury hotels and is currently concentrating more on development of 3 star and 4 star hotels. In 2010, it was estimated that it had added 2,500 new rooms, thereby bringing the total number of rooms to more than 11,000. (Arabianbusiness.com, 2010) The following graph reflects the number of hotel rooms, including past as well as future projections:

fig 3: total number of hotel rooms in Qatar

                                                 fig 4: counrty profile of inbound tourists in 2008

Types of tourism in Qatar

Qatar’s tourism industry primarily depends on business tourism and, as discussed earlier, 95% of the travelers are business travelers. Along with business tourism, other forms of tourism which are getting developed are luxury tourism, sports tourism, desert tourism etc.

• Business tourism: The high end business tourism is the corner stone of the tourism industry at Qatar, owing to Qatar’s vibrant economy and emergence as a constructive place to do business. The capital, Doha, is also emerging as a powerful MICE (Meetings, Incentive travel, Conferences and Exhibition) venue, along with other Middle Eastern counterparts, like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Cairo . In order to support its MICE industry , Qatar has established an institution named QMDI-“Qatar MICE Development Institute”, which is in the business of advising, supporting and conducting top notch business events at Qatar, with international expertise. Presently, there are international hotel chains along with Culture and Heritage Village and Doha Exhibition Center, catering to the MICE segment. Next year, in 2012, the QNCC (Qatar national exhibition center) with a massive space of 40,000 Sq meters is expected to be operational, adding further strength to the MICE industry.

• Lifestyle tourism: Qatar is seeking huge investments in building lifestyle tourism avenues which includes luxury hotels, resorts, spas, marinas, golf courses, exotic islands, coastline development, cultural museums etc. Qatar is a place where modern brilliance blends well with the traditional Qatari charm. Blessed with exotic desert landscapes and magnificent coast line, Qatar has a wide range of things to offer for life style tourists, hailing from all around the globe. Though still in its initial phase, Qatar is coming up with multi-billion dollar master plans to transform itself into a magnificent lifestyle tourist destination.

• Sports tourism: Like other Middle Eastern/GCC cities such as Dubai and Bahrain, Doha is emerging fast as a sports tourism destination. The very 1st thrust for sports tourism in Qatar was conducting the 2006 Asian games, the second largest sporting event after the Olympics. Qatar built around 30 sports facilities for it. The Asian Games 2006, the biggest Asian game of its time, witnessed 45 countries participating in 40 competitive events. (European business review, 2005). Since then, Qatar has conducted some world class events like, SonyEricsson WTA Tour, ExxonMobil Tennis Open, Qatar Masters Cup (golf), Asian Cup Football 2011 and some more. QTA (Qatar tourism authority), QSI (Qatar sports investment) and the Qatar Olympic Committee, in association with other private players, has invested extensively in developing world class sporting complexes such as Aspire Zone, Khalifa stadium, Doha golf course, Lusail international race circuit etc with state of the art facilities. The biggest success which Qatar has got in the area of sports had been winning the bid for hosting 2022 Football World Cup. Qatar had got ambitious plans for this grand event.



Major tourism development projects

The tourism industry at Qatar will go through a very interesting phase in the coming years. There are loads of huge development projects, including a new airport, under construction. The following part of the blog will be having a look at some of these projects:

• Lusail city: It’s a US $ 7.2 billion real estate development project which can accommodate 200, 000 individuals. Spread across an area of 37 Sq Kilometer, it consists of residences, towers, resorts, hotels and an offshore island with 500 villas. The project was announced in 2005 and is expected to be finished by 2020. ( Arabianbusiness.com, 2010)

• Qatar Entertainment City: Qatar entertainment city, a project funded by ADIH (Abu Dhabi investment house) is the part of grand Lusail city development project. Entertainment city is a step taken by Qatar to transform capital Doha into a world class tourist destination. Spread across an area of 10 Sq Kilometer, with a unique Kilometer long waterfront, the project will serve three purpose- residence, retail and entertainment. Along with sea front apartments and villas, five star hotels and retail outlets, the US $ 10 billion entertainment city project will be providing a wide range of entertainment options such as roller coasters, theme parks, cafes, go carting, rain forests, theatres etc. (ecqat.com, 2011)

• Pearl island project: The US $ 20 billion pearl island is a manmade island spread across an area of four Sq Kilometer, developed by United Development Company (UDC), the biggest private equity firm in Qatar. The mixed used project will be consisting of world class apartments, villas, sea front accommodations, hotels and resorts along with wide range of entertainment facilities such as Marinas with around 1000 boats, yacht club, Restaurants etc. The project started in 2006 and is expected to finish by 2011. Once being fully complete, the island will be having 18000 luxury houses, capable of accommodating 41,000 individuals along with 2 million Sq feet of retail space used for retail outlets, restaurants etc. (pearl island homepage, 2011)


• New Doha international airport: By 2012, the new Doha international airport (NDIA) will be operational. The US $ 11 billion airport, with an annual capacity of 24 million passengers (once being fully complete, it can handle around 50 million passengers) and 1.3 million cargos, is expected to be one of the most high tech airports in the world. Once being operational, the base of Qatar airways, the national career of Qatar will be shifted to NDIA. (Constructionweekonline.com, 2009)

2022 World Cup: Preparations


One of the biggest success that Qatar witnessed in the recent past is winning the bid to conduct Football World Cup 2022. The entire state is very excited with this and is preparing hard for the same. In order to successfully conduct the event, huge investment plans are on cards. The following part will be discussing the road map of preparation for the world cup:-



• Road, railways and sea networks: It has been estimated that during the World Cup, 400,000 fans will be visiting Doha from all around the world. In order to facilitate their smooth and fast movement, Qatar is having huge investment plans. It includes allocating US $ 20 billion for the development of road and highway networks, US $ 11 billion for the new airport discussed above, US $ 5.5 billion for deepwater port, US $ 4 billion for building a bridge between Bahrain and Qatar over the sea. There will be an investment of approximately US $ 40 billion in developing a 340 Kilometer, 98 station metro railway networks for Doha and its outer skirts. (Dubaimetro.eu, 2011)

• Football stadium: There is a US $ 4 billion investment plan for building nine stadiums and renovating three existing stadiums. In order to cope with the intense heat, prevalent in this part of globe during the time of world cup, Qatar will be implementing cutting edge climate technologies, which will keep the temperature with in 28 degree Celsius. (worldarchitecturenews.com, 2010)

• Hotels: To accommodate the vast pool of fans coming from all around the world, Qatar has invested religiously in developing 3 star and 4 star hotels. It is expected that by 2022 Qatar will be having around 90,000 rooms. Along with the existing 100 properties, 140 new properties will be used for meeting the accommodation requirements. Qatar is also planning to use a cruise ship with 6000 rooms for accommodating the fans. (HotelierMiddleEast.com, 2010)

Doha vs. Abu Dhabi


Both Qatar and Abu Dhabi are considered as emerging tourist destinations and have striking similarity. In the following part the tourism industry of Qatar and Abu Dhabi will be compared on various parameters.

                               table 1: comparing Qatar and Abu Dhabi across various parameters

Tourism is high up on the agendas for both the Arab state- Qatar as well as Abu Dhabi, and are seeking huge investments in tourism infrastructure and are marketing them very aggressively. While Qatar is preparing hard for 2022, Abu Dhabi aspires having around 7.9 million tourists by the end of 2030, as a part of its vision 2030. ( a detailed blog on Abu Dhabi 2030 could be found in the following link: http://themanagmentguru.blogspot.com/2011/02/abu-dhabis-economic-vision-2030-brief.html  ) They have their similarities, as well as individual competencies. While going by the table, it can be inferred that Abu Dhabi has slight advantage over Qatar, on account of various parameters such as number of, tourists, hotel rooms etc. Qatar’s plus point is its robust economic growth, escalation and expansion plan for its tourism industry, emergence of its national carrier Qatar airways as a world class carrier and winning the bid for organizing football world cup 2022 which can do unprecedented marketing for Qatar as a destination. One interesting point that has to be observed is that since both the Arab state share a lot of similarities and are also geographically closely placed, their ambitious plans for tourism are bound to clash at some point of another. One’s gain will definitely be another’s loss.





Recommendations for tourism industry at Qatar:-

Unique Branding: - Over the period of time Qatar needs to Come up with a unique position for it. In the present scenario, Qatar may have made a mark as one of the fastest economies in the world, but as far as tourism is concern, there is hardly anything differentiating Qatar from Abu Dhabi, Bahrain or Kuwait. It is like any other cash rich/ oil rich GCC state with upcoming, real estate projects, sky scrapers, shopping malls, spas and resorts etc. Qatar needs to build its promotional campaign on something, which can directly differentiate Qatar from rest of the Gulf States. Unique selling prepositions could be its Arabic heritage, economic growth, safety, friendly populace etc.

• 2022 world cup: 2022 world cup will provide a great opportunity for Qatar to showcase its grandeur to the whole world. After winning the bid, Qatar is getting a lot of international attention. The entire process of preparation for the world cup can do wonders in building brand Qatar. Hence it needs to use it judiciously in building a positive brand image for itself.

• Use of large number of hotel rooms post world cup: Qatar is planning to build 90,000 hotel rooms for the world cup. Once the world cup is over, further utilization of such a large inventory of hotel rooms will be difficult for Qatar, until unless it does not develop a strong alternative tourism market for itself. Qatar needs to develop a strong market for a wide range of tourism such as, leisure, life style, sports, desert, cultural, tourism.

• Engaging business travelers: 95% of the travelers visiting at Qatar come for business travelers. Qatar needs to engage such travelers for some leisure activities. It had been observed that business visitors had high chances of revisiting a location for leisure activities.

• Strong focus on inbound tourism: With a per capita GDP of US $ 93,000 in 2008, (Euromonitor, 2009) Qataris are among the richest individuals in the world. Hence it is essential that the tourism authorities at Qatar should not only be focusing on inbound tourism but also emphasize on domestic tourism, given the fact that Qatari nationals have huge disposable income to spend.

#: includes major construction projects along with preparation for the world cup.

Reference:

1> Euromonitor blog, 2010, Qatar’s ambition to develop its tourism sector, available at < http://blog.euromonitor.com/2010/06/qatars-ambitions-to-develop-its-tourism-sector.html >

2> Arabianbusiness.com, 2010, Qatar to see big increase in hotel rooms in 2010, available at < http://www.arabianbusiness.com/qatar-see-big-increase-in-hotel-rooms-in-2010-9747.html >

3> Qatarconvention.com, 2011, homepage, available at http://www.qatarconvention.com/

4> European business review, 2005, Intercontinental hotel links regional development to booming sports tourism sector, available at < http://europeanbusiness.gr/page.asp?pid=532 >

5> Arabian business.com, 2010, Lusail to complete Qatari city in ten years, available at http://www.arabianbusiness.com/lusail-complete-qatari-city-in-10-years-349214. html

6> Ecqat.com, 2011, home page, available at http://www.ecqat.com/en/news/pressrelease. html

7> Thepearlqatar.com, 2011, homepage, available at http://www.thepearlqatar.com/  /SubTemplate1.aspx?ID=165&MID=115

8> Constructionweekonline.com, 2009, New Doha international airport, available at http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-4830-new_doha_international_airport /

9> Dubaimetro.eu, 2011, Qatar $ 40 billion investment for world cup, available at http://dubaimetro.eu/construction-technology/6816/ qatar-40-billion-investment-for-world-cup

10> Newzglobe.com, 2010, Qatar: investment provides new business opportunities, available at < http://www.newzglobe.com/article/20110421/qatar-investment-provides-new-businesses-opportunities >

11> HoteleirMiddleEast.com, 2010, World cup fans housed at sea for Qatar 2022, available at http://www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/10116-world-cup-fans-housed-at-sea-for-qatar-2022 /

12> Euromonitor, 2009, Euromonitor international: travel and tourism in Qatar, p-48

Egypt VS Turkey: as tourist destinations

In the following blog the author will attempt  doing a comparative analysis of the two biggest tourist destinations from the Mediterranean region, Egypt and Turkey, with the help of qualitative as well as quantitative frameworks. Both Egypt and Turkey are world famous tourist destinations sharing lot of similarities across religious, cultural social and economical parameters.

Profiles as tourist destination

Egypt: Egypt, also known as the cradle of civilization has a very strong and vibrant tourism industry, employing 12% of the work force and receiving around 125 Million tourists every year (Dinar Standard, 2011). It has a wide range of tourist avenues such as Pyramids, Sphinx and other magnificent monuments; exotic desserts, wild life parks and sea beaches; shopping complexes and other life style centers and state of the art golf courses; providing a wide range of activities such as sight seeing, dessert safaris, golf tourism, cultural tourism, sea activities, cruising, adventure sports etc. (Egypt. travel, 2011)

Turkey: Turkey also has a  very rich history and cultural heritage and is  melting pot of various civilizations such as European, Arabic and Central Asian. Like Egypt it also has a wide range of tourist avenues such as; beautiful cities like Istanbul, Antalya, Ankara etc; rugged landscapes, serene and calm sea beaches and coastlines, full of exotic floras and faunas; plethora of heritage sites, museums, monuments and archeological sites etc. The range of activities at Turkey includes site seeing, adventure sports, winter sports, golf, rafting, eco tourism, yachting, night life, cultural tourism, shopping, Turkish bath, cuisines, conventions, wild life adventures etc. (tourismturkey. org, 2011)

Following table  shows the demographic and economic Indicators for 2010 (Euromonitor, 2011):

The following figure compares the GDP growth rate of both, Egypt and Turkey, #

Social Indicators of Egypt and Turkey (Source: UNICEF)

comparison of Egypt and Turkey on some selected social parameters

Tourism industry in Egypt and Turkey

Egypt

Since ancient time Egypt has been a very popular tourist destination, attracting large number of tourists from Europe, Middle East and Africa. In 19th century after Napoleon's invasion,  people once again got interested in Egypt. The new era of tourism in Egypt began in 1989-90, when many of the leading hotels were privatized, airline sector was liberalized and the Egyptian govt. came up with some strong marketing campaigns. Since then the industry has been moving with an accelerating pace, occasionally hit hard by terrorism and political unrest. Last year out of the 125 Million tourists it had received, Russia with 14 % had the highest share, followed by United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. Though presently due to the political unrest the tourism industry had been affected, but in the long run it is expected to grow further, owing to expected political stability and transparency as well as more inflow of tourists from emerging economies like China and India.

The following histogram shows the growth of tourism industry since 1989-90, for Egypt

The following figure shows growth of annual revenue from tourism, over the period of   years,

 

The following pie chart shows the percentage of 10 major countries, exporting tourist to Egypt, in the year 2007 (values given in 000s)

 

Source of data: (Information development support center)

 
Egypt is primarily known for cultural tourism. Having large number of Pharaonic, Roman, Coptic and Islamic monuments and archaeological sites, it’s a paradise for culture tourists coming from various parts of the globe. Though position of cultural tourism is unparalleled, Egypt had also made huge investments in developing various other forms of tourism such as, spa tourism, sports tourism, dessert safaris, beaches tourism, adventure tourism, eco tourism, convention tourism (business tourism) etc. In the recent years, government of Egypt along with the support of International Monetary Fund and other international organizations had made huge investments developing the tourism sector, a sector that constitutes 40 percent of Egypt’s non commodity export and employees more than 2 Million people directly or indirectly.;



Turkey

Thanks to its, rich History, wide range of exotic landscapes, beautiful beaches and strategic position, tourism industry in Turkey had made noticeable growth in past few years, better than many of its European counterparts. Turkey’s tourism sector took a leap during the early 80s. In 1980, Turkey had mere 60, 000 beds and the tourism industry constituted just 0.8% of the GDP. (Mahmut Zortuk, 2009). Presently in 2009 with revenue of around US $ 21 Billion, constitutes 3.4% of the GDP and 20.8% of the export. According World Tourism Organization, Turkey is ranked 7th among the best tourists destinations in the world and holds 9th position in terms of annual revenue from tourism. (Sunday’s Zaman, 2011) Istanbul; the capital of two of the greatest civilizations in the world, Byzantine and Ottoman civilizations; along with Antalya are the two important points focal point of Turkish tourism, comprising of 60% of the tourist intake . The city was the 3rd most visited city in Europe as on 2008, and was the cultural capital of Europe in 2010. (Invest in Turkey, 2009)

The following columns shows the growth in inbound tourism over the period of time

Source of the data: Middle East and North Africa report, Istanbul Bulletin, Sunday Zaman, Country studies, Central daylight time

The following figure shows growth of annual revenue from tourism, over the period of   time,

Source of data: Middle East and North Africa report, Istanbul Bulletin, Sunday Zaman, Country studies, Central daylight time

Over the coming years, tourism industry in Turkey is expected to grow further, with around 3.3 Million tourists in 2012. Around 40% of tourists come from, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany and Iran. Major tourist attraction in turkey includes, archaeological sites, monuments, museums, beautiful coastline with 314 beaches, rugged landscapes etc and major forms of tourism includes cultural tourism, winter tourism, beach tourism etc. Other alternative forms of tourism had been developed such as medical tourism, religious tourism and sports tourism. Turkey having 14 golf courses, 20 skies and 40 marinas as of 2008, had also been an emerging sports tourism destination. Similarly it is evolving as a medical tourism destination, with a large number of medical tourists coming from Middle East region.

Comparing Egypt and Turkey on a “Nine Point” Analytical frame work @

The success of a tourist destination depends on a wide range of factors ranging from places to visit, connectivity to political stability and infrastructure etc. In the following part of the blog, both the destinations will be judged on a set of nine parameters, with every parameter having a specific weight age score, depending on the importance of the parameter. Based on the competencies shown under individual parameters, they will be rated from 1 to 5, with 1 being very low to 5 being very high. Finally the individual scores will be multiplied with the weight age score and their sum total over all the nine parameters will be the final score for the individual states.

• Places to visit: the success of any tourist destinations relies heavily on the things it has to offer, whether it has places exciting enough to be adored by tourists, coming from various parts of the world. Under this section, both Egypt and Turkey has enough to offer; while Egypt had some most sought after archaeological sites and monuments, along with beautiful beaches, exotic desserts, spas, golf courses, convention centers Nile cruises etc; Turkey is also rich with archaeological sites, museums, monuments along with beaches, springs, flora and fauna, sports and medical utilities, convention centers, exciting night life etc. Hence both have been rated as 5.

• Infrastructure: includes, hotels, resorts, roads, public transportation, telecommunication, ICT (information and communication technologies), convention centers etc and plays a very important role in the tourism industry by ensuring comfortable and hassle free stay for the tourists. Turkey has around one Million beds, 46 airports, and extensive road networks, Turkey is ranked 55 in the T&T business environment and infrastructure sub index, consisting of ,air transport, ground transport, tourism, ICT, infra structure, tourism infra structure. Turkey lags behind in infrastructure in contrast to, many of its developed counterparts in Western Europe, UAE, USA, Bahrain, Singapore etc. In the given sub index Egypt has a rank of 74. Based on their rankings, a score of 3 and 2 had been given to Turkey and Egypt respectively.

• Safety: is another major concern for the tourists, it has a huge psychological impact in the minds of visiting tourist and a perceived feeling of lack of safety can often result in avoidance of a destinations. Both Egypt and Turkey have their own safety concerns, with the situations presently being more serious in Egypt due to the current political instability. There had been many attacks on tourists by fundamental forces in both Turkey as well as Egypt, resulting in high causalities, there by hitting the tourism business hard. Along with religious fundamentalism, Turkey also struggles hard with Kurdish uprising in the South, which had occasionally targeted tourists. Based on these serious safety concerns a low score of 2 had been decided for Egypt and Turkey, which had been further revised to 1 in case of Egypt, in view of the present revolt, which resulted in one Million tourists leaving the place.

• Cost: Both Egypt and Turkey are comparatively cost effective in comparison to many of its counterparts in Europe. Egypt is one of the low cost tourist destinations where the cost of travelling is 20 % of the United Kingdom. Cairo its largest city has a rank of 224, in terms of cost of living among 276 places in the world. According to an estimation by budgetyourtrip.com; average daily travel in Egypt, which includes accommodation, food, water, local transportation etc could cost around US $ 33.5; souvenirs could cost around US $ 100 and daily travel and cruise trips can cost around US $ 30. In case of Turkey values for the same will be US $, 47, 8 and 55 respectively. Cost of daily travelling can cost US $, 200, 164, 77 and 51 in United Kingdom, USA, Mexico and Thailand respectively. Few tourist destinations cheaper than these two places could be Morocco, India etc. Hence for cost, on a scale of 5 a score of 5 had been given to Egypt where as 4 had been given to a bit costlier Turkey.

• Strategic Location: Turkey is strategically placed between the cross roads of Europe, Middle East and Central Asia. Similarly Egypt, situated in North Africa is at a distance of mere four hours from Europe and is at the door steps of Middle East. For both of them, strategic location have played pivotal role in their tourism industry. In the given parameter a score of 5 had been awarded.

• Marketing: Owing to the fact that tourism plays a very pivotal role in their individual economies, both Egypt and Turkey intend to take strong initiatives in marketing their destinations. Ministry of tourism and culture in Turkey has an ambitious plan of achieving 50 Million tourists and US $ 40 Billion as revenue by 2023, as a result of which it has opened offices all across the world, taking strong marketing initiatives. In spite of this, marketing expenditures are believed to be low in comparison to some of the heavily marketed destinations like Spain, UAE etc. The same holds true for Egypt, though it has its own tourism ministry with a fix budget allocated for marketing, a lot more can be done. In case of both Turkey as well as Egypt handful of nations like Russia, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and some Arab countries constitute the majority of their tourists, indicating lack of diversity in their marketing campaigns. Hence a score of 3 had been given to both the countries.

• Climate: Climate is another factor, deciding the success of a tourist destination, though few adventurous souls might like harsh weather conditions, for most of the leisure tourist it might be a turn off. Egypt has comparatively moderate temperature with warm days and cold nights; during summer temperature fluctuates between 43 degree C during day and 7 degree C in night, whereas during winter, varies between 30 degree C to 18 degree C. The warm weather in Egypt is considered to be very refreshing for tourists. In comparison to Egypt, Turkey has a varied climate with coastal areas having typical Mediterranean climate with hot summers and mild, wet winters and East of the country having snowy winters and warm summers, often used for winter tourism. Istanbul has a cooler version of Mediterranean climate where as Antalya; home to some of the best beaches and resorts has a much warm coastal temperature. On account of their favorable weather conditions a rating of 4 had been given to them.

• Social factors: People from both Egypt and Turkey are known for their warm and loving attitude towards the tourists. In Egypt a large number of people speak and understand languages like English, French, and German etc. Similarly in Turkey English is taught as second language in most of the govt. sponsored schools, other than English lot of people do speak and understand German, Russian, Arabic etc. In terms of other social factors affecting tourism industry, directly or indirectly such as literacy rate, higher education, telephone penetration, internet penetration etc Turkey has a clear cut edge on Egypt, hence 4 had been awarded to Turkey and 3 for Egypt.

• Legal factors: Factors such as the visa procedures and the legal system of a country are also important for the tourism industry of a nation. Both Turkey and Egypt have easy visa obtaining procedure and legal frame works very much in line with the Western world, hence there is not much of a trouble for the tourists. A score of 4 had been given to both of them.

The following table followed by graph shows the score of both the countries across the nine parameters:

                       

      
            Egypt : sub total 157

           Turkey : sub total 167

Though both Egypt and Turkey had emerged as great tourist destinations in the past few decades, with both having their unique selling proposition; one an ancient land with some of the most magnificent monuments and archaeological sites while other, a moderate and prosperous Islamic society also blessed with a rich cultural and historical heritage and catching up fast with its other developed counterparts, both in terms of outlook as well as approach. If data speaks something, then the comparison between Egypt and Turkey goes in favor of the later. Not only does Turkey has a bigger tourism industry than Egypt and has better figures under various social and economic indicators but also has 10 point higher score under the nine point analytical framework. The difference in the scores can be explained with the help of underlying difference in the structure of Turkey and Egypt. Both the nations do have their own share similarities, since both, are Moderate Islamic societies having very rich heritage, are making headways in the tourism industry by investing in various new and alternate forms of tourism and are moderately cost destinations providing a value based proposition to the tourists but along with this similarity there are some gross dissimilarities also. While Egypt had just started liberalizing its market, investing in social infra structure and post revolution is attempting a transition into a liberal and transparent democratic system; Turkey on account of its inclinations towards the European world had made huge strides in investing in social and physical infra structure, is a moderate, transparent and secular democracy and has implemented economic reforms much before. Turkey itself has huge ambitions of achieving 50 Million tourists by 2023 and is yet to achieve its full potential as a tourist destination, yet it can be an inspiration for the newly evolving Egypt. Turkey, a prosperous and modern society with strong Islamic roots can be a ‘great model state’ for a new Egypt.

The Turkish model can not only be beneficial for the tourism industry in Egypt, but can also be an inspiration for various parts of its, economic, social and political future.

# for the year 2011 for Egypt, the estimated GDP growth of 5.5% has been revised to 3.5%, due to the current political turmoil.



@ This nine point frame work had been made with the help of a seminar session attended by the author at Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, United Kingdom. The seminar was attended by students from various countries across the globe such as, India, Germany, China, Pakistan, Oman, Libya, United Kingdom etc



Reference:

1> Dinar Standard, 2011, Egypt revolution: facts and updates, available at < http://dinarstandard.com/challenges/egypt-crisis-business-facts-updates/>

2> Egypt. travel, 2011, home page, available at < http://www.egypt.travel/?flashinstalled=2>

3> Tourismturkey.org, 2011, home page, available at http://www.tourismturkey.org/

4> Euromonitor, 2011, Reference books, available at http://www.euromonitor.com/turkey/country-factfile

5> Mahmut Zortuk, 2009, Economic impact of tourism on Turkey’s economy: evidence from cointegration tests, p- 231-232

6> Sunday’s Zaman, 2011, tourism industry making headway in Turkey

7> Invest in Turkey, sectors, tourism

Major construction projects in Abu Dhabi

fig 1 : Abu Dhabi grand prix construction,Yas Island, Abu Dhabi,2008 (Source: f1fanatic.co.uk)                                                          

In the last few years, the construction sector in UAE had undergone a huge boom (baring the real estate bubble burst in Dubai which happened as an aftermath of global economic meltdown). Last decade had seen UAE coming up with a range of extravagant construction projects, in order to transform itself as a world class tourist destination, marked by magnificence and splendor. The leading Emirates, Dubai and Abu Dhabi had executed some multi Billion dollar projects that can make any one awestruck. The following blog will give a brief description for some of these projects by Abu Dhabi that had either been completed or undergoing construction. #

• Ferrari theme park: This multi Billion US dollar project which is the biggest indoor theme park in the world had been developed with collaboration between Ferrari and UAE based construction giant ALDAR. The agreement for this 1st ever Ferrari theme park was signed between the two parties in 2005, and was planned to be opened by 2008, though got delayed and was finally opened in November 2010. Constructed on an area of 86,000 SQ M, it’s a multi experiential theme park with some 20 different types of ride. Reflecting the brand values of passion, technical innovation and excellence of Ferrari, the park is considered to be one of the biggest tourist attractions of Abu Dhabi and expects around 10,000 visitors a day. (Ferrariworldabudhabi.com, 2011)

• Saadiyat Islands: Saadiyat islands project will consist of developing low lying islands, 500 Meter off the coast of Abu Dhabi and will be center of architectural and cultural excellence along with being a business, educational and residential place with 38,000 apartments and 8000 villas. Completed by 2018, this 27 Billion US dollar project aims to offer a unique emotional, aesthetic and commercial experience to different sections of tourists. It will be developed by TDIC (tourism development and investment company), an independent entity owned by govt. of Abu Dhabi, involved in developing a large number of tourist destination in the Emirate. Saadiyat Island will consist of a; cultural district with five world class museums designed by world famous architects, a 7- Star hotel, luxury villas and a wide range of retail shops ;Al-Marina district consisting of business complexes, lavish residences, educational institutions and places for leisure activities; four other districts comprising of state of the art golf course, exotic beaches, villa residences, lagoons, nature reserves, eco hotels etc. (AMEinfo.com, 2010)

• Dessert Islands: Dessert Islands are a set of eight islands at the West Coast of Abu Dhabi. Blessed with pristine natural beauties, wild life reserves and historical art facts, it consists of Bani Yas Island, Dalma Island and six other islands. The Dessert Island project, started in 2007 is a 3 Billion Us dollar project intended to transform the islands into a world class, Eco, Nature and adventure tourism destination. The project being executed by TDIC, Masdar (Abu Dhabi govt.’s new energy sustainability initiative) and other private and public players, includes developing 5 star hotels and luxury resorts with around 4000 rooms and aims at maintaining overall conservation and sustainability of the ecology, cultural heritages and energy consumption in the region. Initially it is expected to be visited by around 250,000 tourists annually, rising to over a Million a year (consisting of day trippers and overnight stayers) by 2017. Once being fully operational it is expected to earn US $ 326 Million along with providing 6,500 jobs. (AMEinfo.com, 2007) Ready by this time the islands offer a wide range of activities such as kayaking, nature and wild life drives, nature and wild life walks, mountain biking, boat snorkeling, sunset cruises, scenic sea plane flights etc and top notch accommodation in the form of luxury resorts and hotels. (Dessert island ,2011)

• Al- RAHA beach development project: Aldar’s Al-RAHA beach development project is a US $ 11.7 Billion project situated along the Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway, and is located opposite to AL-RAHA garden (theemirtaenetwrok.com) Spread across a vast area of some 5 SQ KM, it includes constructing a wide range of accommodations, consisting of 60 storey towers as well as low rise buildings and villas and is expected to accommodate 120,000 individuals. It will also be have large number of parks, cafes and other leisure destinations. The project is currently under construction and is expected to be finished by 2018. (ConstructionWeekonline.com, 2009)

• Al- Reem Island project: One of the biggest real estate projects in the Middle East, Al-Reem Island project consists of developing state of the art residential, commercial and business complexes on the natural island of “Al- Reem”, situated off the North Western coast of Abu Dhabi city. The US $ 30 billion project aims to be an example of magnificence by offering advanced and rich lifestyle experiences to its residents and is been developed by three entities: TAMOUH, Sourah and Reem developers, while TAMOUH is developing 60% of the project, Sourah and Reem are developing 20% of the project each. The work for the project had started in 2006, will be constructed in phases and is expected to be finished by 2023. Once being fully completed the ambitious real estate project will have a total built up area of 1.1 million SQ feet and will be housing some 200,000 residents. Along with top notch residences with state of the art technological facilities, the project will also include shopping complexes, parks, a 27-hole golf course, schools and colleges. Foreign nationals can also own properties in the complex for a 99 years lease. (alreemisland.com, 2011)

• Mohammed Bin Zayed City: Developed by KEO International on behalf of Abu Dhabi Municipality, Mohammed Bin Zayed City is a US $ 7 Billion project with accommodation, commercial, retail and business related offerings. Expected to be finished by 2012, the project consists of developing; 349 residential towers with 30,000 apartments capable of accommodating 85,000 individuals; wide range of facilities such as health clubs, swimming pools, spas, retails, cafes and restaurants and will be having a built up area of 5.8 Million SQ M. (Zawya.com, 2011) Basically being aimed at underserved middle income group people, the project will also ensure financial benefits for the tower owners and is being considered as a sign of overall sustainability. (AMEinfo.com , 2009)

• YAS Island project: the US $ 40 Billion (approx) Yas Island project, developed by Aldar, is one of the biggest and most ambitious projects not only in the Middle East but across the whole globe, aiming to convert the island into one of the biggest leisure and entertainment destinations in the world. Initially started in 2006, the whole project will be executed in four phases and is expected to be finished by 2020 (though the initial claims were to finish the project by 2011). Out of the total area of 25 SQ KM of the Yas Island, 17 SQ KM will be used for the project. The project includes developing exciting avenues for entertainment; luxury hotels, resorts and spas; sports clubs; polo clubs; golf course and shopping centers (near about 300,000 SQ M will be utilized for retail purposes). The 1st phase of the construction is over and includes ; Yas Marina circuit, venue for world class motor race events and conducting Abu Dhabi grand prix since 2009; Ferrari world Abu Dhabi, world’s 1st Ferrari theme park (had been discussed above in details); Yas links golf club, a semi private, state of the art golf club set against the admirable beauty of Arabian gulf and is designed by world famous golf course architects Kylie Philips; a range of seven hotels with around 2000 rooms, including the exotic Yas Hotel which is half built in land and half built in water and Yas Marina yacht club, an exquisite yacht club (Yasisland.ae, 2011). There are various exciting future offerings such as; Warner Bros theme park, a joint venture between Warner Bros, Aldar properties and Abu Dhabi Media company, the project includes Multiplexes, hotels and film production unit beside the theme park; Yas Island water park,($) a water park developed over 16.4 hectares of land and having around 40 rides and many other exciting avenues where splendor and extravagance will blend with dynamism and adventure. (dubaifaqs.com, 2011)

Other than these extravagant projects, there are other end numbers of projects being executed in Abu Dhabi such as airport expansion plan, Abu Dhabi metro project and Al Ras Al Akhdar etc.,as a part of its vision 2030, the total worth of construction assignments in Abu Dhabi is estimated to be around US $ 563 Billion (ConstructionWeekOnline.com,2011) . In order to support its anticipated economic growth Abu Dhabi is seeking huge investments in infra structure projects and it is expected to see many such other state of art projects being executed in the nearby future.

# This blog had been devoted for some of the large construction projects of Abu Dhabi, some subsequent blog will be dealing with the other Emirate, Dubai.

$: the water park project had been awarded to UAE based developer, Alec, Its a 165 Million US dollar project , commencing on February and expected to be finsihed with in 18 months. (the point had been added after the blog was published)  

Reference:

1> Ferrariworldabudhabi.com, 2011, homepage, available at < http://www.ferrariworldabudhabi.com/en-gb.aspx >

2> AMEinfo.com, 2010, TDIC to transform Saadiyat Island into strategic global tourism destination, available at < http://www.ameinfo.com/83997.html >

3> AMEinfo.com, 2007, Abu Dhabi to get unique desert islands destinations, available at < http://www.ameinfo.com/118315.html >

4> Dessert Island.com, 2011, activities, available at http://www.desertislands.com/en/Content/mountain_ biking.aspx

5> Theemiratenetwork.com, AL-RAHA beach, available at < http://realestate.theemiratesnetwork.com/developments/abu_dhabi/al_raha_beach.php >

6> Constructionweekonline.com, 2009, AL Raha beach development, available at < http://www.constructionweekonline.com/projects-275-al_raha_beach_development/ >

7> Alreemisland.com (Official Website), 2011, available at < http://www.reemisland.com/ >

8> Zawya.com, 2011, Abu Dhabi Municipality: Mohammed Bin Zayed City, available at < http://www.zawya.com/projects/project.cfm/pid150708124446?cc >

9> AMEinfo.com, 2009, Mohammed Bin Zayed City Towers sets example for sustainable communities, available at < http://www.ameinfo.com/184337.html >

10> Yasisland.ae, 2011, attractions, available at < http://www.yasisland.ae/attractions/yas-gateway-park/>

11> Dubaifaqs.com, 2011, Yas Island leisure destination in Abu Dhabi, available at < http://www.dubaifaqs.com/yas-island.php >

12> ConstructionWeekOnline.com, 2011, $563bn worth of construction projects in Abu Dhabi, available at http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-11191-563bn-worth-of-construction-projects-in-abu-dhabi/