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August 4, 2015
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| Photo by Freeimages.com/John Hart |
AFP, The Daily Telegraph, August 04, 2015
The desert city where temperatures can reach more than 40C as ambitions plans to build the biggest indoor ski slope the world has ever seen.
Dubai, the Gulf emirate best known for its extravagant projects and scorching temperatures, announced Tuesday it would build the world's largest indoor ski resort, with a 1.2km run.
Dubai's current indoor ski resort, opened in 2005 in the Mall of the Emirates, remains the largest in the world, according to the Guinness World Records website, boasting a 400m slope.
The slope runs year-round, despite summer temperatures in Dubai that can top 45C.
The new covered ski resort comes as part of a scheme dubbed Meydan One, also to include the world's tallest residential tower at 711m (2,333ft), a dancing fountain sweeping up to 420m (1,378ft), a vast shopping centre, a 350-room hotel and a marina, according to a government statement.
Estimated to cost of up to 25bn dirhams (£4.35bn), the project is to extend from the Meydan race track in the emirate's desert to Burj Khalifa, the world's highest tower, reported Dubai daily Al-Bayan.
“In a city which never stops innovating, today's announcement is significant for the future of Dubai and the UAE,” Meydan chairman Saeed al-Tayer was quoted as saying in UAE-based newspaper The National.
The first phase of the project, eventually to house up to 78,000 residents, should be completed in the next five years, in time for the UAE's hosting of World Expo 2020, according to its promoters.
With its reputation as a liberal city in a conservative environment, Dubai has become a business and financial hub attracting businesses and expatriates seeking to establish themselves in the Middle East.
The emirate, which has also emerged as a tourist destination, last year logged 13.2 million visitors, and aims for 20 million tourists by 2020.
This article was written by Afp from The Daily Telegraph and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
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