Tap The Gold Dust

Dubai???s pre-eminence as the city of gold was never in doubt, even at the peak of the real estate crash that brought the city down to earth from its stratospheric orbit. Apart from the glitter, which the city and the metal share in solid measure, Dubai now seems to have acquired another fundamental attribute of gold???status as a safe haven against economic uncertainties/market turmoil that has seen prices hit record highs in recent times.By a quirk of circumstances, Dubai is now increasingly being seen as a safe haven for money flowing out of countries caught up in the Arab Spring. As Arab political distrust of the West keeps growing, there is a discernible trend of money avoiding the traditional channels that were once heavily tilted towards European destinations. With the whole region in turmoil, other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries also suffer from a number of disadvantages. By default, Dubai emerges as the best bet.Advertisement opens in new windowDubai has always been an island of stability whenever the region faced trouble. Each time the region erupted in violence or uncertainties of any kind, Dubai has benefited from its multiculturalism and cosmopolitan approach. Apart from its perception as a safe place to do business???until the real estate bubble burst in 2008, bringing with it all the negative publicity???Dubai always retained an edge as the region???s most favoured venue for people to meet, whether for business or for socialising.Some of these qualities are now coming into play once again. While the broad agreement is that those heady boom days will never return to Dubai, there is a general sense of momentum building up slowly. After a painful period of negative growth, the numbers are again turning positive, although the results are just about visible on the ground.Hotel occupancy rates, a key indicator of Dubai???s economic health, are consistently scaling up. The number of passengers transiting through Dubai is steadily growing. Going by