Ras Al Khow-Eco-tourism in constructed wetlands: Post modernity in the modernity of the Dubai landscape

Abstract

This study examines the role of a directed gaze in an urban eco-tourism setting of Ras Al Khor in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. Ras Al Khor is a UNESCO RAMSAR accredited wetland and has significant conservation values, yet from one perspective it is an artificially constructed site. The site exists because of previous dredging in the Dubai Creek and the introduction of mangrove swamp planting and while replicating other sites found along the UAE coast line it had no prior existence until the 1980s. The paper uses textual analysis from open ended questions to visitors supplemented by other materials to discuss the authenticity of an eco-tourism experience primarily directed at flamingos. It identifies different tourist perceptions of that gaze in a location that is not too far distant from the world's tallest building, the Burj Al Khalifa, and its associated development of shopping malls, hotels and apartments and offices.