Colin Montgomerie has opened one, as has Ernie Els. Tiger Woods is following,
with Greg Norman and Vijay Singh in the chasing pack.
When you talk green in the Dubai, it's can be assumed you mean golf courses.
Conservation and ecotourism are not common parlance in the United Arab
Emirates.
In four days at the Arabian Travel Market this week, I heard a slew of figures
and superlatives to illustrate the UAE's headlong goldrush to embrace
tourism.
There's the world's tallest building still rising in Dubai, the biggest
Guggenheim to open in Abu Dhabi and the world's biggest stable of theme
parks planned back in Dubai.
But only very rarely did sustainability arise - unless it concerned oil.
Dubai's runs out in 2016, hence the stridency to diversify now and consider
the ramifications later.
At a "Going Green" seminar, David can der Meulen of Arabian
Traveller magazine pointed out that US hotel chains operating in the Middle
East, like Fairmont, have inhouse policies to cover energy efficient
lightbulbs, paper and water usage. None of the UAE hotel companies have, he
said.
The Grand Hyatt in Dubai has gone further, replacing its gas and coal-fired
boilers with solar panels - after all, the UAE is not short of sun. But
Middle Eastern hoteliers barely pay lip service to green tourism.
One destination management consultant from Oman told the seminar that at a
recent responsible tourism conference in South Africa, only three of the 500
delegates were from the Middle East.
If not forced, why would hoteliers from the region spend the money to go
green, asked one Dubai investor? Another suggested taxbreaks for hoteliers
to encourage improvements - until it was pointed out that the UAE is
tax-free.
Hoteliers are more interested in numbers, brands and classifications - so
where is the incentive, when oil and gas dollars are freeflowing and the
enthusiasm is for more hotels, marinas, shopping malls and artificial
islands?
Some bold statements have been uttered. Qatar Airlines is to build a huge
facility to experiment with a gas-to liquid (GTL) and kerosene mix to lower
aircraft emissions, with Abu Dhabi is building a $20bn car-free and solar
powered city at Masdar.
But as one UAE blogger, Dr
Geoff Pound, points out: "When cost is no object to the UAE, the
easy option is to construct a new city using expensive materials. How much
better if the UAE transformed an oil-guzzling and wasteful nation into an
ecologically responsible country which recycled precious resources?"
A decade ago, the Al Maha Desert Resort
opened in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, a national park housing
native animal and plant species. It was a model of ecotourism, one of the
first in the region to recycle "dirty" water for irrigation - so
it is a surprise that not more models have followed.
But there are green shoots. A Beirut-based sustainable tourism operator,
Expeditions International, is to manage a small hotel and research complex
at the Ras al-Hadd turtle nesting beach and nature reserve in Oman.
And from October, tourists will be able to stay on Sir Bani Yas island off Abu
Dhabi. the former private eco-retreat of a UAE ruler. It is the core of a
Desert Islands project which officials hope will unlock the country's
western region for conservation tourism.
It's part of the Masdar project, with transport on the islands will via
electric vehicles and two of the eight islands will reserved for bird and
turtle breeding grounds. Elsewhere in Abu Dhabi, it was announced this week
that a wildlife park and resort, involving San Diego Zoo, will also be
created, designed to preserve wildlife.
Inevitably, as at Al Maha, high-end luxury camps and "safaris" are
involved - but this is the UAE, remember, where Armani and Versace open
hotels next year and Madam Tussauds waxworks will vie with Legoland and the
Snowdome for business.
Being green is a long way way from being top of the agenda.
