Initially, Dubai's economy was built on the revenues it received from the oil and natural gas industries, although currently this surprisingly accounts for less than 20% of it's economic activity. As time goes by and more people are attracted to this metropolis in the desert, the tourism industry is beginning to take over, and as more people move to the area and there is a higher demand for housing, hotels and the general growth of the city, the construction industry has had the largest growth due to projects like the Burj Khalifa complex and the Dubai Marina. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the Middle East.

The US and UAE economic relation is one of the fastest growing in the world. The UAE is the United States' largest export market in the Middle East, and more than 1000 US firms have a presence in the UAE. 1.6% of all US exports were to the UAE in 2013. The city is important for US business as made apparent in a steady upwards rise in FDI from US direct investment in United Arab Emirates stock.

Saudi Arabia has almost a fifth of the world's oil supplies, and has therefore become the biggest exporter of oil and petroleum which is how the city became so rich. An estimated 240,000 barrels of oil are produced in Dubai on a daily basis. With oil extraction taking place at such a quick rate, it is predicted that the supplies will be exhausted by 2030, and that so we are already seeing a slump in oil production and export from the area. 11% of gross petroleum imports to the US come from the UAE.

Because of this, to maintain it's high living standards and wealth and to conserve the flow of foreign exchange, Dubai has had to rely on different industry sectors. Dubai was the world's eighth most visited city in 2007 and this figure continues to rise with the expansion of the Emirates Airline and extensions in the Dubai International Airport. The airport is situated on many long distance routes making it a popular place for a layover or even for a short break to the city. Major attractions for tourists in the city include visits to the desert, shopping festivals, amazing pieces of architecture and construction (both ancient and modern) and beautiful coastline.

Real-estate and property are also on the rise. Dubai has become a very desirable location to live and so we have seen a rise in demand for housing. Naturally, there has also been an increase in construction to create these buildings. The global recession in 2008 set back the real-estate market in Dubai considerably, but it seems to have recovered and be on the increase again with properties gaining value and more skyscrapers are being constructed. Over 50,000 US nationals reside in the UAE.

Dubai houses the world's third largest gold and diamond trading markets. The city accounts for around 25% of our global trade of gold, which draws in wealthy shoppers from all over the world. It is such an important industry to the city that it has been labelled “The City of Gold”. The free trade environment in Dubai makes it the cheapest place in the world to buy gold.

There is also a large market for fast food in Dubai, with over 5000 fast food restaurants and chains situated in the city. Most residents of the city will drink bottled water instead of tap water, so the demand for this is very high and it has become a very large industry.

Retail is a notable industry with over 70 shopping malls in the city. It is particularly renowned for the Souk districts where people travel from all over the world to spend their money.

When you follow the guidelines of your airline, you turn up for your flight 2 - 3 hours before your flight is due to depart, supposedly to have sufficient time to get check in, drop off your luggage, complete security checks and to find your gate, but what happens is then is that you tend to find yourself lingering around the departure gates for an hour or so before you actually board your flights. In every airport there are a plethora of duty free shops, mostly selling products like perfume, spirits, watches and jewellery, electronics and local souvenirs. It often feels like being in a shopping mall instead of in an airport.

It has been drummed into our brains that shopping at airports saves us money as we avoid paying certain taxes and have the benefit of shopping duty free. The worldwide sales mark for Duty Free Shopping is in the vicinity of $50billion a year, two thirds of which is from the airports.

Selling these products as “Duty Free” and “Tax Free” is obviously a fantastic label to put on a product to be able to sell it, however, airports tend to put on an excess to raise these prices to almost the same as you would be paying with tax and duty included. They are clever in reducing the price enough to make it a great deal for the customer, but it's even better for the airport who not only gets the profit but an additional sum where they are not paying taxes and still increasing the price on the product.

The highest savings are on products like tobacco, spirits and liqueurs which carry a high tax in the US, and when purchased in bulk at the airport (obviously within your allowances) can be a substantial saving in the long run. If your'e observant, you'll notice that a lot of people mentioning stocking up on these items as they pass through airports, often picking up a brick of cigarettes for a family member or a friend, and to have that as a possibility imprinted in your mind every time you travel before you even leave for the airport is the product of excellent marketing.

Airpots are also very clever in that they provide lots of products that the traveller might want. Bored and waiting for your flight? Pick up a book! Forgot your headphone or phone charger? No problem, they have that too. Can't get comfortable on planes and have a long flight? There's travel pillows and earplugs and everything you could possibly require on sale which is easily forgotten when packing. Furthermore, when you're in the “holiday mode”, you become more spontaneous and less hesitant at parting with your money.

Clearly Duty Free is a successful business, but overall it doesn't save you too much money. You may be better off checking the prices with your local supermarket before you leave rather than presuming that the airport will be the cheapest place, also allowing you more room in your luggage for all those items you leave out to compensate for duty free products.

Google is one of the largest companies in the world as we know it. It's hard to find somebody who doesn't use it as their default search engine, and many people have it as their home page. It has become so popular that the phrase “to google” has become a commonly heard combination of words all over the planet, and the word “google” was even included in the Oxford Dictionary in 2006. Here are some more interesting facts and figures about google that will blow your mind.

Google has teams where 14% of the employees didn't go to college. As a company it often looks for different and unique qualities in people and doesn't always rely on test scores and educational backgrounds as proof that potential employees are capable of the job.

Google actually hired a camel when creating imagery for their street view application. This was so they could document the desert and include it as part of the programme. There is also a similar programme that they have that lets you explore around parts of the planet Mars, as well as a 360 degree view of the base camp at Mount Everest.

By bypassing all advertisements, the “I'm feeling lucky” button actually costs the company $100 million a year. This is a device that will take you directly to the first page listed on the search which essentially saves you a few seconds as the majority of users will click on the first link that comes up as part of their research anyway. This seems like a lot of money to lose, however the company makes in excess of $30 billion a year from advertising, which surpasses CBS, NBC ,ABC and FOX combined. This isn't so surprising when you find out that every minute, 4 million searches are hosted by the search engine.

Google receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day. That's the average figure of how many people use Google a day, which translates into at least 2 trillion searches per year, 3.8 million searches per minute, 228 million searches per hour, and 5.6 billion searches per day. On average, between 16% and 20% of all queries made daily are completely unique and have never been asked before. Each search is tested against over two hundred factors to create the best result.

Google is often rated as the number one franchise to work for in America, due to staff care and benefits from unlimited gourmet food and surprisingly excellent post bereavement programmes to potential personal development. The campus has been described as a “big playground”. Their openings are some of the most sought out after in the entire tech industry.

On the 16th August 2013, the servers at Google went down for five minutes which decreased internet traffic globally by 40%. This alone shows us just how dependable we are as a generation on this single company's existence. Since 2010, it has been buying out on average 2 companies a month to add to it's ever expanding portfolio of businesses.

Google owns YouTube which has become the world's second largest search engine despite being a video broadcasting platform. It was purchased by Google for $1.65 billion in stocks.

A quarter of all diseases such as Cancer, cardiovascular related illnesses and diabetes effect people under the age of 60, thus taking them out of work in their most productive years. Living a healthy lifestyle is both vital for living into your retirement years and for maintaining productivity in the short term.

First and foremost, you should always ensure that you have a decent 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Sleep deprivation is a productivity killer, and if you don't ensure you have a decent amount of sleep you are much more vulnerable to illnesses and time off work. Some companies, such as Goldman Sachs, have even brought in sleep experts to try to help combat the problem which is costing companies and health insurance firms a fortune. A Harvard research study suggested that the average worker loses 11.3 days worth of productivity every year due to sleep deprivation, and it effects your focus, your reaction speed, your decision making abilities, your cognitive speed and your memory. A lack of sleep can also have serious ramifications during your travel to and from your work.

Aside from just your sleep, it is important to maintain a good diet. People who eat a healthy balanced diet tend to be happier and more positive people. A positive mood goes a long way in business, and this will also ensure that you are receiving the correct vitamins and nutrients your body needs to help prevent you from unnecessary illnesses. Also, eating a decent breakfast will ensure that your body has sufficient sugar and carbohydrates to power through your mornings as a lack of sugar has the ability to drain you of energy and to help you lose your concentration and motivation.

Regular exercise is also vital to a healthy lifestyle. This, much like a healthy diet, helps to improve positivity by stimulating various brain chemicals that leave you feeling happier and more relaxed, and also you overall health which allows you to be more approachable at work and to be more aware of opportunities surrounding you at work. Exercise is also an excellent stress reliever at the end of every day, and people who exercise tend to be more focussed and more driven in the work place as regular exercise boosts your energy. Having a good exercise schedule also has the added benefit of improving your sleep cycle and your ability to switch off at the end of the day.

While it is impossible not to catch illnesses from time to time, living a healthy lifestyle will ensure that your body is able to perform at it's full potential, that your mind is able to maintain concentration and focus through arduous tasks, and to leave you with a happier and more positive outlook. The bottom line is that healthy people tend to perform better in the work place, and that more time sat behind the computer doesn't necessarily mean more productivity. Be sure to eat well, to exercise and to sleep well to maximise your performance at work.