With spectacular architecture and extraordinary experiences, Dubai continues to seek the world’s attention to attract tourists from all over the world. For years the destination has been criticised not only for its lack of cultural recources and for its lack of investment in preservation of local culture for the sake of creating a spectacle for tourist consumption. In this single case thesis, basing the research on storytelling, the tourist gaze and its concept of place and linking these to Said’s theory of orientalism, the tourist portal for the city state, VisitDubai’s social media account on Instagram and YouTube are investigated to find out what the destination’s storytelling looks like in 2022, and how a perceived tension that has been present since the age of imperialism may or may not be expressed through this storytelling.
Conducting a thematic content analysis on photographic and video materials found on Instagram, YouTube, as well as material found on the organisation’s own website, it was found that the presence of a discursive tension between East and West is indeed still there, but suggests that attempts to alleviate that tension are being made. It was also found, however, that despite decades of heavy criticism for the relentless investment in consumption, only little seems to have been changed to improve on these issues.