Metro system 'offers freedom for Dubai visitors'

Travellers visiting Dubai will enjoy a new sense of freedom following the launch of the Metro public transport network, an industry spokesman has claimed.

Ian Scott, UK director of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) in Dubai, said the impact of the new system on the local travel industry will be "considerable".

The Metro system will encourage people to jump on a train and visit a part of the city that they may not have considered previously, Mr Scott said.

He also pointed out that Dubai has received criticism for road congestion in the past, a problem that will be mitigated by the new public transport provision.

Commenting on the arrangement of the Metro network, Mr Scott said: "All the stations have been strategically located close to tourism hubs and the business centres too.

"So you'll have stations like the airport and Burj Dubai, Burj Al Arab, Emirates Towers and [they] will go down to the Dubai Marina."

The DTCM released figures recently showing that more than 1.85 million people visited Dubai in the second quarter of 2009, an increase of four per cent on the previous year.

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