Groot Utrecht goes Middle East (October 31-November 4)

Once a year the “Groot Utrecht” networking group, comprising of directors and/or owners of companies located in the province of Utrecht, organizes a business trip to a foreign country.
Below you will find a compilation of the many photos which were made during the trip to Dubai.

Dubai is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is one of the country's main cities. A majority of the emirate's revenues are from trade, manufacturing and financial services. Revenues from petroleum and natural gas contribute less than 6% (2006) of Dubai's economy. Dubai has attracted world-wide attention through innovative real estate projects.  


Wednesday, October 31: arrival and transfer to hotel
Flag of the United Arab Emirates  
 

Dubai International Airport, soon to be replaced by a new airport in Jebel Ali
Transfer from the airport to the hotel by Hummer limo


Thursday, November 1: city tour, Palm Island, cocktail at the Dutch consul, dinner in the old town

One of the many mosques
Dubai is one big construction site: wherever you look work is in progress

And because labor force is relatively cheap...
...work is done by many people and commences in an astonishing speed

Every single building in this picture is under construction
At the same time the city of Dubai is still busy completing its infrastructure

Construction on a large scale has turned Dubai into one of the
fastest-growing cities in the world
The Burj Dubai is a skyscraper under construction and is to become
the tallest man-made structure on our planet
 
The projected final height of Burj Dubai is officially being kept a secret due to competition from other buildings under construction or proposed.
However, figures released by a contractor on the project have suggested a height of around 818 m. I counted over 150 completed floors when we visited the Burj Dubai.

A few workmen near container '14' on level 53. Look at the scale of this building!
25% Of all cranes in the world can be found in Dubai. Here are two of them

Left: the 5-star Jumeirah Beach Hotel with its wave-shaped structure
Right: the luxury hotel Burj Al Arab with its sail-shaped structure
The Burj Al Arab iconic structure mimics the sail of a 'dhow' (Arabian sailing vessel)
 

 
View from the top floor of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel 

Visit to the sales office of Palm Jumeirah
Palm Jumeirah is an artificial island and increases Dubai’s shoreline by 520 km

Marquette of the Palm: the trunk with above that the crown with 17 fronds
And this is how the center trunk looks nowadays

Marquette of the Atlantis Palm resort, with a total of approximately 2000 rooms
And this is how it looks in real life, approximately 1 year before it's planned opening

After launching the project, the number of residential units on Palm island was
increased from a planned 4500 to an estimated 8000...
Jan Schaarts (Van Oord, a Dutch dredging company with a worldwide reputation) gives us a project update while sailing through the area on a catamaran

Skyline of Dubai from the catamaran. The Burj Dubai stands out clearly
The wave-shaped Jumeirah Beach Hotel (left) and Burj Al Arab hotel (right) 

Left: Dubai Waterfront, Arabian Canal (partly visible) and Palm Jebel Ali
Center: Palm Jumeirah and The World
Right: Palm Deira (which will become the world's largest man-made island)
Artist impression of 'The World': 300 islands constructed in the shape of a world
map. Each island ranges from about 14.000 m˛ to 42.000 m˛.
The distance between each island is (on average) about 100 m.

Van Oord at work: the last 3 m. of reclamation is achieved by a technique known
as "rainbowing", in which the sand fill is sprayed over the surface of the rising island
At the end of the day we arrive at the 'old' city of Dubai
 

The old city of Dubai is famous for its Nouveau Arab architecture
  

Night view of Dubai from the base of the Jumeěrah Emirates Towers
Dinner on an old, renovated 'dhow' boat


Friday, November 2: ABN/Amro operations facilities, 4WD drive and barbeque in the desert

Visit to the ABN/Amro Operations facilities (call center)
  
The facility is in the middle of nowhere but because of the expansion of Dubai
is expected to be part of the city within a year or two 

The Madinat Jumeirah resort is styled to resemble an ancient Arabian citadel
The restaurant overlook the artificially created waterways above sea level

  
Lunch at the Madinat Jumeirah 

No cell phone coverage so everybody is available for a group photo
Preparations for our 4WD through the desert: the tire pressure is reduced to 50%
   
   
   
 
After a rough ride it's time to relax and enjoy live entertainment
  


Sathurday, November 3: Dubai waterfront

On our last day we visited Arcadis (a Belgium infrastructure
development company) at the Dubai Waterfront development site
During the presentation we saw artist impressions of what might become
the new financial district of Dubai within a few years

After which we were invited to see the prestigious land reclamation projects...
...from the best angle you can get: birds eye view!
 
One of the most complex and major engineering construction of the world:
the 70 kilometer long Arabian Canal which runs right through the desert and back
In case you haven't noticed: the Arabian Canal beats a couple of world records.
One of them is that the waterfront project is estimated as an $61 billion project

Between the inlets of the Arabian Canal lies Palm Jebel Ali: the 2nd artificial island		  
Like Palm Jumeirah it has 17 fronds and a surrounding crescent island
 
Dubai Waterfront will extend the coastal line by another 820 km. It is the world's
largest beachfront development and the largest man-made development
Wow!! And I thought everything in Texas was Bigger!
 

The Mall of the Emirates is the largest mall in the world and houses Ski Dubai
 
Yep, you guessed it right: it is the largest indoor ski resort in the world.
And if that is not impressive, remember, we are in the middle of  the d-e-s-e-r-t

To overcome all these impressive facts & figures we settled down...
... at the five star hotel resort Jebel Ali to prepare for our flight back home 
   
 

 
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