Why are there so few Americans in Dubai?
You would think that Dubai would be an American’s dream, like a cross between Vegas and New York everything is bigger, grander, gaudier than anywhere else. It has McDonalds, Pizza Hut and all the usual multi-nationals to make them feel at home, yet there are only 19,000 Americans amongst the 1.2 million expat population.
It’s not just the residents, only 7% of hotel visitors hail from the USA, compared to 32% from Europe, 30% from the Arab world, 22% from Asia and 6% from Africa, reports The Boston Globe.
Dubai is expanding faster than any city on earth, its importance to business grows by the day and yet the Americans seem to be neglecting it. But why?
It could be the distance, provincialism, the fear of Islam and the Arab world, perhaps even the weather and desert location. But this hasn’t stopped the likes of Brad Pitt designing a new hotel or Tiger Woods building a golf course and resort.
With the economic situation in the USA showing no signs of improving and US companies such as Citibank, General Electric, Microsoft, and Halliburton beginning to appear in Dubai alongside the long established British companies, no doubt there will be greater and greater numbers of Americans coming to Dubai looking for work.
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