Dubailand, the stalled multibillion-dollar real estate development backed by Dubai Properties Group (DPG), has announced it is to dedicate 70 million sq ft to offering traditional desert camp experiences.
Plots on the land will be leased to tour operators, which will offer the opportunity for tourists to “come over, have nice barbeques and see the traditions,” Dubailand director of operations Mohammed Bin Essa told Hotelier Middle East.
“In terms of size it is big, but each camp wants to have its own privacy and we’ve created something called sound barriers, so the further away from each other the better. And the camps will still have peaceful surroundings.
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“The camps are so huge they can host so many activities,” Essa continued. “The creativity is there because there is so much space.”
Dubailand was one of the Gulf emirate’s most ambitious developments, announced at the height of the real estate bubble. The resort was originally slated to be twice the size of Walt Disney World, and was reportedly worth AED335bn at its peak. It was placed on hold after the financial crisis triggered the collapse of Dubai’s real estate market in late-2008.
In October 2011, DPG group CEO Khalid Al Malik s told sister title Arabian Business that the firm was in talks to renegotiate four projects in the resort, with plans to unveil details of a sustainable city by end-2012.
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