Dubai has current number one Florida looking over its shoulder as it continues to expand its potential for fractional ownership. Dubai is a safe country with a large middle class, and also boasts great weather and beautiful beaches. It is already home to the world's tallest hotel, and the building boom in the tourism industry has been phenomenal.

Current timeshare penetration nib the area is only at 1%. David Clifton, managing director of the EMEA, says that the area has unlimited potential within the Mideast market. Clifton was speaking to a group at the annual Arabian Hotel Investment Conference, and the buzz at the conference this year was definitely about the potential within Dubai for timeshare opportunities.

Dubai is already the home to many of the world's biggest and most unique real estate projects, and vacation ownership has been the fastest growing sector with in the tourism market for the last decade. Florida is the current leader in timeshares, with 218 registered timeshare resorts, but industry analysts are confident that Dubai has the potential to unseat Florida from its top position.

Dubai is blessed with a geographical location that makes it a hub for people throughout the Middle East, Asia and Europe, and the number of income affordable households within easy range of the beaches of Dubai is far larger than what America offers.

All of the major corporations in the timeshare industry have expressed very serious interest in the possibility of building a timeshare resort within the Middle Eastern state, and the govt. of Dubai is currently considering legislation that would regulate the booming industry, to ensure an equal standard of excellence for all involved.

Industry analysts say that the current focus needed has to be on educating consumers within the middle east as to the potential benefits of timeshare ownership, rather than through the marketing of each individual project. It will be necessary to first create the market amongst the people of the region, before Dubai will fulfill its dream of becoming the world's largest timeshare center.