Dubai is rapidly emerging as a leading tourist destination, it has been reported.

Long-inhabited by western workers, the United Arab Emirates’ largest city is now benefiting from money invested in the tourist industry, says the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).

ABTA spokesperson Francis Duke explained that Dubai had as a result been transformed from a desert state into one of the world’s fastest growing cities.

He said: “Dubai is really four and five star upwards when it comes to its tourism offering.

“It is totally an example of where a lot of money and a lot of resources have been ploughed into the tourism products.”

Developments in Dubai reflect general rises in the number of visitors to destinations in emerging economies, the World Tourism Association has announced.

The association claims the market share of developing countries had grown to 40 per cent of worldwide international arrivals in 2007, up from 34 per cent in 2000.

ABTA represents more than 6,000 travel agencies and 850 tour operations throughout the British Isles.

Destinations in emerging economies are becoming increasingly popular with British tourists, says a leading travel association.

A spokesperson for the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has claimed UK tourists want a different type of holiday experience and more are heading to destinations in developing countries such as China, Brazil and Vietnam to fulfil their expectations.

ABTA’s Francis Tuke said mid and long-haul destinations were where the largest amount of industry growth had taken place over the last few years, with traveller numbers rising by over 200 per cent.

He added that emerging economies were becoming so popular because they are exciting, exotic, fast-developing and “so have tourism infrastructure in place”.

Meanwhile, research carried out by the World Tourism Association revealed the USA continues to maintain its position as the world’s largest travel and tourism economy in the world.

China is considered the highest ranked emerging economy on the list for the 2008 study, which considered 176 countries, sitting in second place ahead of Japan and Germany.