Dubai: destination re-branding urgently required – from ‘playground of the rich’ to the complex compelling place we know it can be

“Dubai has always been seen as a playground for the rich. What is the Dubai tourism authority doing to pull in people with less money?” That was one question among others that came to me Friday via the DK–Rough Guides PR office, as author of DK’s Top Ten Dubai and Abu Dhabi guidebook, from a … Read more about Dubai: destination re-branding urgently required – from ‘playground of the rich’ to the complex compelling place we know it can be

Once upon a time in Dubai: when the fairy tale doesn’t unfold (or get told) the way they wanted it to, Or, Why the media needs to grow up

“A couple of years ago when I first started reading travel articles about all the new develop- ments in Dubai, I could never have guessed that this would happen,” Erica from Blissful Travel wrote in response to my post on Dubai yesterday, which was actually a pointer to Terence’s post on Dubai’s Global Reporting Meltdown … Read more about Once upon a time in Dubai: when the fairy tale doesn’t unfold (or get told) the way they wanted it to, Or, Why the media needs to grow up

Please don’t tell me this is the future of guidebooks, or, Offbeat Guides part 3: a depressing postcript

Does the world really need travel guides compiled for us from Wikipedia and/or any other online sources for that matter? Following on from my posts on Offbeat Guides part 1: my findings & part 2: my conclusion, I’ve been thinking about the future of travel guides…but first, the postscript: after posting part 2, I returned … Read more about Please don’t tell me this is the future of guidebooks, or, Offbeat Guides part 3: a depressing postcript