São Paulo – One of the tourist destinations most desired by the people in the city of Rio de Janeiro is Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. A survey conducted by UniverCidade, a teaching institution in Rio, and by Planet Work, a consultancy firm, shows that 5% of Rio citizens dream of getting to know Dubai. According to the survey, 40% of interviewees want to go to Disneyland, 30% want to visit Europe, 15% dream of going to Australia, and 10% would like to travel to Fernando de Noronha, in the state of Pernambuco.
Over the last few years, Dubai has become an exotic tourist attraction for tourists worldwide. In Brazil, the emirate gained strength as a travel destination after Emirates airline inaugurated a direct flight between São Paulo and the Emirates, in October 2007. Dubai receives roughly 5 million tourists per year. Last year, in the emirate, cruise ship tourists alone totalled 182,000, according to data supplied by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. This year, the figure should be 250,000.
Tourist attractions in Dubai range from high-end enterprises, such as the famous Burj Al Arab –a sail-shaped hotel – and shopping centres featuring leading global brands, to desert tours and camel rides. But one of the emirate’s main attractions is the exoticness. Dubai is building, for example, a tower that should be the world’s tallest, the Burj Dubai. The emirate also offers an artificial ski slope, a street riddled with stores selling gold products, artificial islands and other attractions.
The survey that pointed to Dubai as one of the destinations desired by the people in Rio also showed other tourism-related habits and desires of those living in Rio de Janeiro. In the survey, 2,000 people were interviewed in October and November this year. It was conducted with support from the Cesgranrio Foundation. According to the data, most Rio citizens prefer to travel with the family (45%) or with friends (40%) than alone. Most travel within their own states. Out of the total, 40% travel in the state of Rio itself, 35% travel across Brazil, and 25% travel abroad.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
