Sunday, January 21, 2007

Marching forward to the past.

Big news on Page 3 of Emirates Today this morning:

"In a very innovative solution to the rising demand for hotel accommodation, Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) has chartered two cruise liners. It is expected to fill the void in the industry because of forthcoming events and exhibitions in the capital.

The cruise liners will be berthed in the UAE capital as floating hotels from today until the end of February.


Innovative?

Back in 1977, when I first arrived in Dubai, a ship was moored on the Creek on Deira-side that was used for exactly the same reason. There was another in Sharjah too.

Here's my photo taken in 1977...

1 comment:

nzm said...

Heh.

It's also been done for the Jumeirah Palm workers - but with an old ferry.

They've done this all over the world at some point in time. In NZ, they had cruise ships in to cope with the overflow of beds required for the America's Cup events.

It must be innovative for Abu Dhabi!