“…Dubai's formula for modernization as well as economic development has included several components: visionary leadership, good regional and international communications, an attractive winter climate and environmental landscape (desert), a central location between Europe and East Asia, high quality infrastructure, low import duties, and the absence of taxes on personal and corporate incomes (Sharpley, 2008). These factors have served to encourage rapid population growth (currently 2.2 million, Government of Dubai, 2014) all the while helping to transform the city into an important global tourism destination (Bagaeen, 2007;Henderson, 2007;Sharpley, 2008;Stephenson & Ali-Knight, 2010). As pointed out by Stephenson and Ali-Knight (2010), the 2008 Country Brand Index (CBI) already identified the UAE as one of the top three 'rising stars' alongside China and Croatia as global tourism destinations.…”