A century ago Dubai was a sleepy port supported mainly by pearl fishing. Now it is a metropolis of skyscrapers rising from the desert. In the intervening 100 years, it has become a centre of commerce and tourism. The vast income from oil and gas has fuelled this, but what sets Dubai apart is successful investment in diversification, removing reliance on a dwindling resource. About 90 per cent of its income is now from sources other than oil.

The first phase of this evolution was commercial: attracting investment and workers with low taxes, building sea ports and airports now served by hundreds of shipping lines and airlines, and pioneering special economic zones. Dubai World, the emirate’s holding company, has reinvested the proceeds in enterprises from P&O Ferries to Greg Norman’s golf course design consultancy. In the past 20 years, tourism has emerged as an important source of income. Converting the QE2 into a floating pleasure palace is a headline-grabbing move typical of Dubai’s approach to attracting visitors. The artificial archipelago where she will be moored is one of four similar developments.

Dubai hosts the world’s richest horse race, an ATP tennis tournament and an event on the PGA golf tour. It was home to the world’s first six-star hotel and is building the world’s tallest building, almost four times the height of Canary Wharf in London. The QE2 will become one of many pearls flaunted by a city of bling.

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