The world's most visited city

Dubai: faces a challenge with its tourism ambitions. Photo: Bloomberg

If the reaction to my column about stopover cities is anything to go by, Dubai faces challenges in its ambition to overtake London as the world’s most visited city.
The ambitious metropolis, which is targeting 20 million visitors a year by 2020, came under fire for everything from being expensive, artificial and tacky to having “repressive” laws against actions such as showing affection in public.
I don’t want to get into the debate about Dubai’s social values – I generally believe when you visit another country you either take it as it comes or choose not to visit – but I do have doubts about Dubai’s long term tourism appeal.

The shadow of the Burj Khalifa looms over the city of Dubai. Photo: Bloomberg

For me it is a must-see but somewhere you only need to visit once.