When it comes to attracting tourists, the World (with a capital ‘W’), a mega project announced in 2003, is grandiose, even for Dubai. It’s a recreation of the globe with 300 islands (CGI design pictured above) two miles off the coast, just northeast of The Palm Jumeirah, and built using 321 mn cbm of sand. The islands’ combined size is around 6,000 feddans, and they were estimated to have cost c. USD 13 bn to build. Ironically enough, the final batch of sand was unloaded in January 2008, just as the financial crisis was being triggered. The fallout of the crisis proved the final nail in the coffin of a vision that very few had really been on board with in the first place.

If you’re curious to check it out this spring but are wary of nuking your finances, you could spend a day on Lebanon island for just AED 200 (c. USD 54). However, the limited number of TripAdvisor reviews, most of which give it a rating of either poor or terrible, suggests it may not be the most sought-after experience. Lebanon is currently the only built-up island. Besides Lebanon, there are a few steel frames hanging over the Heart of Europe — the only other ongoing development by Austrian real estate investor and Dubai-based Josef Kleindienst, who later plans to develop the islands of Germany, Venice, Sweden, Switzerland, St Petersburg and the EU mainland.