After much anticipation and years of preparation, The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) officially opens its doors today.

The 341-room hotel, with 124 executive residences, is the second Ritz-Carlton in Dubai and the sixth property in the region for the luxury hotel company.

This hotel is directly linked to the Dubai International Financial Centre and No. 5, the hotel bar is located in the prime welcoming position at the end of this pathway.

Beijing authorities plan to build a “seven-star hotel” modelled after Dubai’s Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest building – in a $1.3 billion joint project with Saudi Arabia.

The hotel will be erected in western Beijing‘s Mentougou district some 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the Chinese capital’s centre.

The Saudi side is expected to foot the entire bill but we still dont know why such an expensive project would be located in the underdeveloped rural area.

AC Milan reached dizzying new heights on Friday, when they played football at the top of the world’s tallest building, The Burj Khalifa.

With a pitch specially created on the towering 828 metre-plus structure, the AC Milan team took their game to levels never seen before.

The AC Milan squad were in Dubai for their Winter Tour and the Emirates Challenge Cup which was played against Al Ahli Club on Sunday January 2.

The final Louis Vuitton Trophy event is scheduled to start in Dubai on 12 November, featuring six of the top international sailing teams in the world.

The Louis Vuitton Trophy is a two-week sailing event and will take place at the Mina Seyahi, the home of Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC).

The boats used will be identical ACC yachts, the same sort as was used in the Americas Cup between 1992 right up to 2007, with the aim of ensuring that any team advantages fall within the realms of personal skill and sailing expertise.

A new in-flight entertainment system due to be rolled out by Flydubai this month could make watching movies in the sky easier and greener.

The Dubai budget carrier is the launch customer for a new type of in-flight entertainment system from US company Lumexis, dubbed “fiber to the screen.”

The premise of the system is that it uses fiber optics to take information to the seatback displays instead of copper wires, in much the same way that many home cable connections have superseded traditional copper telephone lines.

Abu Dhabi is set to challenge Dubai for dominance of the region’s fast-growing cruise market, announcing October 25 that MSC will become the first cruise line to call the emirate home.

MSC Lirica, a 59,000-ton, 2,199-guest liner, will be the first ship ever to use Abu Dhabi as a home port, beginning October 2011.

It will sail 19 seven-night cruises from Abu Dhabi’s Mina Zayed Port, traveling round the Arabian Gulf peninsula to Muscat, before turning round en route for the UAE’s eastern emirate of Fujairah on the Indian Ocean.