Introduction In the past decade, Dubai has grown to be not only a commercial hub, but also an excellent tourist destination (Anheier 2012, p. 94). A key sector driving Dubai’s flourishing tourism industry is the eco-tourism sector. Even though eco-tourism is a new industry in Dubai, the rapid tourism boom in the region threatens coastal and desert habitats (Simm 2012, p. 1). From the ecological concerns about the growing tourism industry in Dubai, this paper proposes a research study to assess the cost of adopting eco-tourism. To have a more practical approach to this issue, this paper proposes a case study that focuses on one hotel located on the Palm Tree Island – Fairmont the palm, Dubai . The palm tree island is an artificial island off Dubai’s coast that hosts several hotels and resorts. The 2006 palm-tree island project provides a good case study for this paper because the project ended and now hosts several high-end resorts, villas, and hotels (Page 2012). This paper therefore proposes a research study to establish the cost of adopting eco-tourism in Fairmont the palm, hotel . Background/Rationale Even though Dubai’s climate is characterised by arid conditions, the World Tourism Destination ranks it among the top tourist destinations in the world. In fact, Dubai is ahead of China, Turkey, France, Hong Kong, Germany and other top tourist destinations in the world, in terms of attracting the largest tourist numbers (Stephens 2008). Statistics, which show that about 10,000,000 tourists visit Dubai every year, support the growing relevance of Dubai as a top tourist destination. For instance in 2010 alone, Taylor (2011) estimates the number of tourists who visited Dubai to be about 9,000,000 people. To support its growing tourism sector, Dubai also reported increased hotel capacity, which analysts estimated at 70% in 2011 (Kumae 2012). The growth of the general tourism industry has also led to the growth of other tourism sectors like the cruise ship industry, which grows by about 10% every year (Stephenson 2010). In 2010, Dubai hosted close to 400,000 cruise ship passengers. Observers expect this number to grow to about 600,000 travellers by 2015 (Mohammed 2011). The growing tourism industry in Dubai has brought significant economic development in the emirate. However, underlying this growth is a worsening ecological crisis that threatens the existence of the tourism industry in the first place (Badescu 2011). Problem Statement Notably, the U.A.E has among the world’s greatest ecological footprint, considering its rapid growth and harsh climatic condition. The rapid growth of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are especially among the greatest threat to the ecological sustainability of the region (Routledge 2012). Through the decline of environmental quality at the palm tree island, this paper seeks to understand the cost of adopting eco-tourism as a new model for sustaining eco-tourism at Fairmont the palm, Dubai . This seaside hotel is located on the palm tree island as a magnificent tourist lounge. The challenges facing the hotel resemble many other challenges facing Dubai’s hotel industry – sustainability. Therefore, as Dubai’s tourism sector embraces eco-tourism as a sustainable model, this paper propo