The United Arab Emirates (UAE) now has attractions and buildings that are part of the list of the top 20 destinations from around the world. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and the Dubai Fountain are in the top 20 in the category of Most Beautiful Views in the World.
In the list compiled by travel company Kuoni, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is 8th globally while the Dubai Fountain is 11th. No other tourist attractions in the Middle East are included in this list.
Travel company Kuoni said it compiled the rankings by analyzing TripAdvisor data for sights in more than 267 cities around the world. Kuoni uses the 'The Things to Do' section of the TripAdvisor site, where each sight and location that mentions the most "beautiful" in its review is ranked as the most beautiful sight for that particular location or city.
Data was collected from reviews up to the end of June. New York City's Central Park area topped the list, with 22,880 mentions, while Rome's Trevi Fountain came in second, with 18,283. The US has the highest number of attractions in the Top 20 with a total of five, including the Fountain at Bellagio in Las Vegas, Chihuly Gardens and Glass in Seattle, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the San Antonio River Walk in Texas.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has 8,831 mentions and the Dubai Fountain has 7,269. The mosque, which was built by the founder of the UAE state, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was built in the mid-1990s.
Construction of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was completed in the fall of 2007. Sheikh Zayed died before the construction of the mosque was completed. He died in 2004. But his body was buried in the graveyard which at that time was part of the construction site.
The mosque was officially inaugurated in 2009 along with The Dubai Mall, the Dubai Fountain at the foot of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. This tallest building has become a popular tourist attraction in its own right.
The Dubai fountain stretches for 274 meters, which shoots 152 meters of water into the air or as high as a 50-story building. This fountain has more than 48 songs in its burst repertoire. On average, there are 13 shows of The Dubai Fountain each day, each with 30-minute intervals starting at 13:00.
List of 20 most beautiful sights in the world
1. Central Park in New York City, USA: 22,880 mentions
2. Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy: 18,283
3. The Fountain at Bellagio in Las Vegas, USA: 16,750
4. Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain: 16,158
5. Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France: 12,930
6. Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic: 10,870
7. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens in Cape Town, South Africa: 9,924
8. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, UAE: 8,831
9. Stanley Park in Vancouver, Canada: 8,797
10. Chihuly Gardens and Glass in Seattle, USA: 8,742
11. Dubai Fountain in Dubai, UAE: 7,269
12. Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria: 7,005
13. Parque del Retiro in Madrid, Spain: 6,788
14. Christchurch Botanical Gardens in Christchurch, New Zealand: 6,704
15. Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA: 6,580
16. San Antonio River Walk in Texas, USA: 6,028
17. Duomo di Milano in Milan, Italy: 5,997
18. Plaza de Espana in Seville, Spain: 5,916
19. Sydney Harbor in Sydney, Australia: 5.519
20. Grand-Place in Brussels, Belgium: 5.505