Eco-Tourism and Luxury: Case Study of Dubai's Al Maha Resort

Journal of Sustainable Tourism Vol. 17, No. 3, May 2009, 287–301

Eco-tourism and luxury – the case of Al Maha, Dubai
Chris Ryana ∗ and Morag Stewartb a b

Tourism and Hospitality Management, University of Waikato, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand; The Emirates Academy, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

(Received 4 January 2008; final version received 17 July 2008) This paper examines the issues raised by Al Maha in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a 27 km2 resort within the 225 km2 Dubai Desert Conservation Zone that offers luxurious accommodation in 40 suites, each with its own swimming pool. Its appeal is based on luxury, but it also offers insights into desert culture, heritage and the fauna and flora of the Arabian Desert. Much of that desert has become severely degraded by 200 years of camel grazing. Al Maha claims eco-tourism status through its desert regeneration programme. Is eco-tourism compatible with luxury? Given an official Emirati ecological perspective of desert greening, is desert reclamation consistent with wider UAE greening policies? Does ecologically motivated reclamation based on revenue from luxury-based tourism condone ecologically unaware tourist behavior? Keywords: deconstruction; desert reclamation; Dubai; eco-tourism; luxury tourism

Introduction The purpose of this paper is to argue that eco-tourism is not inconsistent with luxury, and, by using a case study of the resort of Al Maha in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to provide evidence that conservation is well served by a supplier vision of regeneration combined with restrictions on visitor penetration of natural spaces. Further issues are identified in the paper. Al Maha exists as a desert recovery scheme within the official ecological programme of the UAE that is associated with a greening initiative involving tree planting. This latter initiative is consistent with Islamic cultural norms where paradise itself is described as a green place in the Qur’an. In short, this greening

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