一年前，朱美拉棕榈岛上的亚特兰蒂斯酒店开业时，曾斥资2000万美元举办开幕聚会，并邀请凯莉米洛作为嘉宾出席，这一举动使得迪拜自诩的世界第八大奇迹 ——棕榈岛的称呼更加令人信服，也进一步巩固了迪拜作为名人，富豪新乐土的国际地位。花费100万美元的烟火表演为那些质疑房产能否持续繁荣的人放宽了心。

　　
　　When the Atlantis hotel was opened on Palm Jumeirah a year ago with a $20 million party headlined by Kylie Minogue, it was supposed to crown the island’s self-styled reputation as an Eighth Wonder of the World. It was also supposed to cement Dubai’s position as a new playground for the rich and famous. The $1 million firework display helped to distract attention from a construction boom running out of steam。

　　
　　迪拜政府曾极力否认问题的存在，并于近期宣称今年人口数目将增加40万。面对所有预测经济将暴跌的独立评估报告，政府方面置之不理。曾有一则轶事：一辆汽车被丢弃在迪拜机场，杂物箱里还有一些信用卡，这个故事被传得神乎其神，而迪拜政府并不想给人们留下这样的印象。

　　
　　The Dubai government has done its best to deny that a problem exists, claiming recently that the population would rise this year by 400,000, flying in the face of all independent assessments, which predict a sharp fall. The anecdotal stories of cars abandoned at Dubai International airport with credit cards in the glove box have become the stuff of legend, and not the image that the government has sought to project。

　　
　　迪拜世界集团的一些业务仍然业绩良好，尤其是作为全球第三大港口运营商的迪拜环球港务集团(DP World)，该集团于2006年收购了P&O集团。迪拜环球港务集团在英国也拥有一些港口，如位于埃塞克斯的蒂尔布利港。但这部分的业务，尤其是Nakheel公司，都是建立在资产激增的基础之上。如果信贷市场恢复元气，建筑业能够真正地再次起步，那么它们有可能继续在业内挣得一片市场。尽管如此，银行家们对于地产业的信心可能已经大打折扣了。

　　
　　Some parts of Dubai World remain strong, in particular DP World, the third-largest international ports operator, which bought P&O in 2006. DP World also owns ports in Britain such as Tilbury in Essex. But those parts of the business that were founded on the property boom, and Nakheel in particular, are likely to continue to struggle until the property market recovers and construction can begin again in earnest. Even then, bankers’ confidence in the business may be shot。