As seen on 60 Minutes Dubai Inc. reported by Steve Kroft.
The Biggest Story in the World — Dubai – home of the world’s largest construction site and one of the most amazing stories in our world today.

While millions flock to Dubai annually, from an American perspective it’s “the Middle East we don’t know”.

Still surrounded in misunderstanding by so many in the US, the massively positive story of Dubai and Middle East 2.0 is the real story of change in the Gulf.

It is a story of peaceful, constructive excellence and the pursuit of dreams. A story very much in line with true American values.

Dubai is a city in the emirate of Dubai which is part of the United Arab Emirates or UAE in the Persian Gulf. The UAE is part of the GCC, Gulf Cooperative Council, an economic group of nations along the lines of the European Union (EU). The GCC includes the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The growth in Dubai is representative of the growth in the region. While many in America associate the Arab world, the Middle East, the Gulf or sadly Islam and Muslims with terror and terrorism, war and violence, the real story of the Middle East is what is going on with construction, commerce, art, development and millions of people making a better life for themselves.

There is clearly a big difference between the perceptions of Iraq or other areas in the region and reality. Some people tend to think that Iran, the UAE, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are all the same – the region is as varied as the Americas.

Richard Branson, Tiger Woods, Martha Stewart, Madonna and Donald Trump all have business ventures in Dubai. The area is known mostly for real estate but many other projects continue there daily.

International has won the Middle East’s Leading Airport award at the 16th World Travel Awards – Middle East held in Dubai.

This is the second year in a row that Dubai International has won the award.

Labelled as the Oscar Awards of the travel and tourism industry, the World Travel Awards aims to encourage competition, inspire innovation and creativity resulting in exceptional value for travellers worldwide.

The award recognises Dubai International’s consistent delivery of quality customer service over the years.

Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports CEO, said that Dubai International’s success at the World Traveller Awards is the direct result of the airport’s customer-centric approach to enhancing service quality.

He said, “Service excellence is the single most important priority for any airport after safety and security. As one of the world’s fastest growing international airports, we realised that the emphasis on customer service has to be more pronounced and consistent.”

“The opening of Dubai International’s Terminal 3 late last year – now acknowledged the world over as the most successful launch of a terminal of its size ever, has not only doubled our operational capacity but is also an important addition to our state-of-the-art facilities. It has helped us to considerably enhance customer service experience at Dubai International,” he added.

Thousands of votes are cast by travel professionals from 167,000 travel agencies, tour and transport companies and tourism organisations in over 160 countries across the globe.

Votes are cast globally by fellow industry professionals in some 919 different categories.

HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Land Department has inaugurated the International Property Show – Dubai 2009, the biggest transactional property exhibition in the region on February 15, 2009. The show has on display exceptional real estate development projects from across the globe that are seeking to leverage the high attendance of international and regional investors at the annual industry event.

HH Sheikh Mohammed said, “Dubai will be the fastest city to recover from the impact of the ongoing credit crunch, and the emirate’s real estate sector will once again witness a period of long term boom. The impressive participation of players at the ‘International Property Show – Dubai 2009′ underlines the high confidence in the UAE’s property sector.”

Strategic Marketing and Exhibitions (SME), the event organizer, has revealed that the show that will run until February 17, 2009 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, is set to capitalize on the shift in property prices in Dubai, as well as the projected rise in the number of expatriates in the emirate in 2009.