Avoid sitting at any time with the sole of the foot pointed at the host or other guest, and do not cross your legs. Entertainment - The UAE has been making good use of its oil wealth to create and expand a tourism infrastructure for its expatriate community, those of neighboring Arab state, and visiting business people. New golf courses, and leisure parks are in various stages of planning and construction. The weather is great nine months of the year, and the beaches, deserts, and mountains can be quite spectacular. The commercial environment can be characterized as highly competitive, and remarkably laissez-faire, particularly in the northern emirates which include Dubai.
Traders operate on very thin margins, and haggling over prices is the norm.
Combined with a nominal import tariff of four percent, the UAE can be characterized as a large duty free shop. Despite a long trend of economic growth, the UAE remain fairly conservative, and the hereditary leaders of the seven individual states remain largely unchallenged. There is talk of steps toward democratic government, but nothing concrete has emerged. The rulers hold power on the basis of their dynastic position and their legitimacy in a system of tribal consensus. Rapid modernization, enormous strides in education, and the influx of a large foreign population have changed the face of the society but have not fundamentally altered this political system.