Away game: Qatar World Cup looms as money-spinner for Dubai

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates did not qualify for the Qatar World Cup but it will be a winner anyway if an overspill of fans floods its hotels, restaurants and planes.

With little investment the UAE, and in particular Dubai, stands to gain if, as expected, supporters opt to stay in the tourism hotspot instead of tiny Gulf neighbour Qatar during the November-December tournament.

High accommodation prices in the Qatari capital Doha and Dubai's more permissive environment - including a wider availability of alcohol - could entice fans, experts say.

Budget airline flydubai will run at least 30 return flights a day to Doha, just an hour away, part of a daily airlift of 160 shuttle services from cities in the resource-rich Gulf.

Dubai "has relatively relaxed social standards with respect to certain aspects of culture, such as alcohol consumption and clothing codes", said James Swanston, a Middle East and North Africa economist at Capital Economics.

Any economic windfall, and reflected glory from the first World Cup on Arab soil, will come less than two years after Doha and the UAE were daggers drawn over a regional blockade that isolated Qatar from its neighbours.

Dubai Sports Council has estimated about a million World Cup fans could arrive in the city. Given that Qatar is expecting a similar number, the prediction may be ambitious.

Nonetheless, Dubai is gearing up with fan zones announced at parks, beaches and in the financial centre, while hotels are offering special packages.

Such deals include shuttle flights and transport to the airport and fan zones.

The UAE is also offering multiple-entry visas at the nominal fee of 100 dirhams (US$27) to people with tickets for World Cup matches.

Visiting fans won't be Dubai's only World Cup