The one thing that was standing in the way of the wider expansion of Dubai's tourism industry was a lack of beaches.  The golden sands of Jumeirah already play host to a plethora of five star beach hotels, including the Al Habtoor Group's luxury Metropolitan Beach Club, while the expansive Jebel Ali Port and Port Rashid, near the centre of the city, also eat into the coastline. Sultan bin Sulayem, Chairman of Dubai Palm Developers which is managing the Palm Islands project, said: "This initiative is basically filling a need because there are not enough beaches in Dubai. Tourism means beaches and this project will create more." The first island will be created near the Royal Mirage Hotel on the Jumeirah coast and the second identical island will be built 15 kilometres away to the south west of the Jebel Ali Hotel. According to developers, they will be the world's largest man-made islands and, like the Great Wall of China, will be visible from the moon. "Sheikh Mohammed came up with the original idea for the palm-shaped island and designed the concept himself," said bin Sulayem, who is also Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation.  "He then presented it to the engineers. We thought it might be impossible, but that isn't so. "It has taken four years of methodical planning and exhaustive feasibility studies to ensure that the islands can be built and they will employ the most up-to-date, best practices in engineering and construction." He said the project will enhance Dubai's position on the global tourism map as efforts to diversify the emirate's economy continue in the face of dwindling oil reserves.

"The expansion of tourism infrastructure has played a vital role in the development of Dubai's economy and this pioneering concept from Sheikh Mohammed will benefit the emirate's tourism industry enormously, elevating us from regional players to leaders in tourism developmen who focus on modernising and expanding tourism infrastructure to attract more tourists," bin Sulayem said.

He said environmental considerations had been a high priority in designing the islands to preserve the emirate's marine eco-systems.  "The challenges which needed to be addressed were things like deterioration of sand, a good flow of water to prevent stagnation, and ensuring a good artificial environment for marine wildlife." The first phase of construction involves dredging the sea bed and using 80 million cubic metres of rock and sandfill to construct the islands, which is expected to take two years.

The contract to build the first island has been awarded to Malaysia's Perkapalan Mesra for US$270 million, while the contract for the second island has been awarded to the state-owned China Railway Engineering Corporation for the same amount.

Already planning and mobilising of dredging equipment has started and a search has begun to find suitable rock for the project, both in the UAE and in Iran. Bin Sulayem said a group of geologists recently visited several quarries in Iran, including those near Bandar Abbas, Bandar Lengeh and Kish Island to investigate the quality of rock and the complex logistics in transporting it to Dubai by barge. The supplier who wins the tender will be required to deliver 13 million tonnes of rock over 14 months, averaging 60,000 tonnes a day, which will range from aggregate up to boulders weighing 10 tonnes.  The second phase of the massive project, described as the largest of its kind in the world, will involve putting in infrastructure like roads, bridges, marinas and utilities, which is expected to take a further 18 months, while the third phase involves the building of all hotels, villas and commercial facilities.