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Set amongst the desert world of
Dubai (the United Arab Emirates) is a construction site
guaranteeing tourists will soon be flocking to the
Middle East as they do France or Italy today.
The Mall of Arabia, slated to be completed in
2008, is told to be the largest shopping mall in the
world. However,
the Mall of Arabia is just one piece of a massive
project underway to attract tourists called Dubailand.
The concept behind Dubailand is
very similar to that of Disneyworld or Disneyland, with
differently themed areas built into one gigantic
amusement park. The
Mall of Arabia is an integral part of this undertaking.
Besides being part of the park, it will also
provide a prime shopping center for a related structure
called the City of Arabia – a huge complex with towers
rising between 40 and 70 stories, where tenants will be
able to board an air-conditioned train that will take
them right into the mall.
This will allow them the comfort of never having
to step foot into the desert heat to spend a day
shopping.
The Mall of Arabia will also serve
as the entrance to some of the amusement park’s many
themed areas, including the animatronic Dinosaur World.
This means that tourists will be forced to enter
the shopping center, gearing them toward easy
purchasing.
The biggest obstacle that the Mall of Arabia
seems to be facing is to convince tenants to lease space
– there are three other large malls opening in Dubai
prior to the grand opening of the Mall of America (the Ibn Buttuta mall
opened in April of 2005, the Mall of the Emirates opened
in September of 2005, and the Dubai Mall is expected to
reach completion in late 2007).
However, as a part of the Dubailand amusement
park, it seems that tenants would be guaranteed
business, so this obstacle is quickly being addressed.
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