Dubai is set to become the world's most sought out place for marine sports and tourism, a senior offficial of the most prosperous emirate of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has said.

Saeed Hareb, managing director of Duabi International Marine Club, said that with an addition of over 51,000 new marinas and a number of large harbours and ports in the emirate, Duabi was destined to become the most preferred place for marine sports and tourism, WAM news agency reported Sunday.

Hareb, who is also the director of Marinas at Nakheel, was speaking Saturday at the final day of the Arabian Travel Mart (ATM), an annual travel and tourism fair in the region and the third biggest fair after WTM, London and ITB, Berlin.

The official also said the colossal projects like Nakheel and the World - the largest cluster of man made islands in the Arabian Sea - were testimony to the strong base of resources and expertise in Dubai.

Stressing that a number of new marinas were being planned as per the demand of the evolving Dubai landscape, Hareb hoped the number of tourists to the emirate would double in the years to come.

Dubai has surprised the world through its impressive performance by creating immense opportunities for growth for different segments of the economy, especially tourism.

The emirate continues to beat its own growth record year after year. Given its strategic geographical location, excellent infrastructure and proactive policies have made Dubai as the tourism, trading, and technology hub of the Middle East.

From the tourism perspective, Dubai is rated as one of the safest destinations in the world.