Luxury consumption in tourism: The case of Dubai

Over the past 30 years, Dubai has quickly developed into what can no doubt be described as one of the pinnacle tourist and business destinations of the world. Fuelled by the vision and generosity of H.H. Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s renowned reputation for its vast supply and thus consumption of luxury products and services has continued to grow parallel to the city’s expansion. Within the luxury hotel segment, Dubai can now be considered to be saturated with the supply of luxury hotels, which consequently is beginning to show negative financial effects (STR, 2016). It is possible to suggest that Dubai’s over-exposure and the so called “mega-dream” are in fact denting Dubai’s luxury reputation. This small discussion paper casts a critical narrative over Dubai’s developments, its negative effects on the city’s luxury hotel segment and questions the long-term sustainability of the city’s advancements. Finally, a call for research is made, looking at a number of possible research opportunities recommended to explore and evaluate the line of discussion in more detail.

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