Tag Archives: dubai lifestyle news
What can we expect from Dubai Sports World?
There are just a few days to go until the largest indoor sporting event in the Middle East gets started in the UAE.Dubai Sports World (DSW) is due to begin on June 21st and organisers of the event have announced details of the organisations that are expected to take part.According to bosses at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), a plethora of sporting groups will provide engaging activities such as fitness programmes, team sports and BMX parks.Tennis 360, Duplays, Active Sports, Original Fitness, IFA Sport, Rage Skate Park, Ping Pong Dubai, Football Centre, Dubai Badminton School, Adventure HQ, Ride Bike Shop and G Force Cricket have all confirmed their attendance at the event thus far.The Dubai government is hoping to see more UAE residents participating in physical activity and is also keen for tourists to get involved.Senior vice president of venues at DWTC Ahmed Alkhaja said: “In order to ensure DSW caters to individuals of all ages, interests and sporting ability, we have once again partnered with organisations that bring people together in a dynamic, active and friendly environment, led by some of the best trainers in the city.”Alex Medvedev from Rage Skate Park suggested there is a strong skating community in Dubai and he is proud to take part in DSW, AMEinfo reports.”Our competitions are meant to be celebrations of the sport, which is as physical as it is creative,” he was quoted as saying.Dubai has not always been renowned as a sporting hub, but a lot of work has gone into altering the city's image.In fact, footballing legend Diego Maradona – who has been working as an ambassador for the Dubai Sports Council – recently described the emirate as the “Disneyland of sport”.He told Gulf News said there is no place in the world that is better at hosting sporting events. Coming from one of the finest footballers to ever walk the planet, this is high praise indeed. Continue reading
Emaar eyes tower even taller than Burj Khalifa
Emaar Properties is considering building another world-record breaking tower bigger than its own Burj Khalifa, which is the current holder of the world’s tallest building, according to its chairman Mohamed Alabbar. “We may try to build something a little taller,” Alabbar said at a conference in Dubai. “The emirate needs another tall building. Dubai is only about 30-year old, so we have a lot of time and lot of investment left,” he added. Emaar Properties built the 828-metre Burj Khalifa tower in 2010 and is also involved in the Kingdom Tower, which is being developed by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and is under construction in Jeddah. The Saudi tower is reportedly set to be as high as 1km tall. Already the holder of the world’s tallest building title, the new plans Alabbar has hinted at would have appeared fanciful three years ago, when a crash in the inflated real estate market triggered a corporate debt crisis and a slew of company restructurings. But Dubai, home to an archipelago of man-made islands and an indoor ski slope in one of its shopping malls, staged a dramatic economic recovery last year, partly because of a tourism boom. Tourist arrivals grew 10 percent and hotel revenue rose 19 percent in the first half of 2012. Some state-linked companies have been working through their debt loads while some property prices have started to rebound. Continue reading
Is a new property law set to be introduced?
New legislation has been proposed that will give Dubai property investors greater levels of protection.According to the Real Estate Investment Management and Promotion Centre of the Dubai Land Department (DLD), the Tanweer law has been set up and is now ready to be officially sanctioned, the National reports.The organisation said that legal experts had given feedback on the draft regulations last year.Head of the centre Majida Ali Rashed told the news provider the law – which protects the rights of real estate investors and aims to create more transparency across the sector – is the first of its kind in the world.”The [DLD] will issue in the coming period a fully integrated law that will protect the rights of real estate investors through a comprehensive framework based on transparency and clarity of the contractual relationship between the developers and the investors,” she was quoted as saying.Experts have welcomed the impending introduction of the law and stated that more information would be made available once it is officially put in place.Alexis Waller, partner at the legal firm Clyde & Co, said anything that enhances confidence in the city's property sector is to be welcomed and the rules have been set up in a way that balances the interests of both developers and investors.Several recent studies have highlighted the growing demand for property in the UAE and it is generally accepted that the government's proactive approach to stimulating investment activity in the country is one of the main reasons for its popularity.Earlier this month, Global Investment House's GCC Real Estate Quarterly report showed the UAE and Saudi Arabian property markets are still leading the way in the Middle East.The research indicated that Dubai landlords were able to hike their rents by ten per cent in the first quarter of 2013, while the hospitality and commercial property sectors also performed extremely well during the three-month period.With new legal safeguards in the pipeline as well, it is easy to see why Dubai is one of the most sought after investment hotspots on the planet at the moment. The First Group can find you some excellent properties in Dubai Continue reading
