Dubai’s Mountainous Hatta Exclave to Receive Tourism Facelift

Dubai is more than skyscrapers and world expos. Just two hours away from the city, on the border between the UAE and Oman, the village of Hatta has attracted many of Dubai’s denizens to the Hajar Mountains exclave for a weekend escape among its quaint stone houses with palm tree-front rooftops. Since 2016, it has garnered the attention of the government of Dubai, which has been gradually turning the village into an international tourist destination.

These developments come in two sorts. The first focuses on Hatta as a space beyond Dubai’s urban networks, where anyone with a sense of adventure can come get their boots dirty by trekking its upcoming walking path to Jabal Umm Al Nusour, the highest peak in the Emirate. Or perhaps they’d rather ride the 5.4 kilometre cable car over the Hatte Dam Lake and the Upper Dam Lake to get a look at the hydroelectric power plant from above. From there they’d be able to get a view of the man-made sustainable waterfall that will be implemented over the slope of Upper Dam Lake.

The other sort is for those who’d prefer to put their feet up on a soft piece of furniture and appreciate the view from a comfortable distance, specifically from the room of a glamorous new hotel. Two hundred holiday homes will also be built for the benefit domestic travellers, allowing them to better acquaint themselves with Hatta’s cooler temperatures and laid back atmosphere while providing 500 jobs to local residents

With Hatta seeing a huge jump in tourists during 2020, from 60,000 to a million, Dubai is going all-in to transform it into an inspiring destination experience beyond the glitzy offerings of the city.

Travellers to Dubai must have a RT-PCR test done within 72 hours before departure, and travellers from select nations will need to take another PCR test on arrival.