To cater for the over-growing number of visitin g businessmen, most of the major hotel chains have opened large hotels here. The main shopping streets bustle with estab lishments of all descriptions selling goods from around the world. Air-conditioned plazas are the latest addition to the commercial scene. The suqs manage to comBene the old with the new. The fish suq is probably the truest to tradition, offering the 100 plus varieties of fish that are cought locally.
Gold is sold by weight at current world prices, and every little extra is charged for the design.
The new handicrafts market is for tourists, and includes some very beautiful and exo tic products, such as the heavily decorated khanjar curved daggers, swords, ceremonial and otherwise, and even old Martini-Henry rifles. Abu Dhabi International Airport is moving into the front rank of world airports. It has a futuristic design based on hubs spreading out from a central area, which houses, among other things, very competitive duty -free shops. Travellers can also buy tickets for lotteries with fabulous prizes - from Ferrari cars to apartments in London. Apart from its modernity, the most striking feature of Abu Dhabi is its lushness.