Dubai Holding

Dubai plans to develop a $1.7 billion tourist resort on two man-made islands it will build either side of the Burj Al Arab, its luxury sail-shaped hotel.

It is the latest development planned by the emirate as it aims to attract 20 million visitors a year by 2020, when Dubai will host the World Expo 2020 exhibition.

Spanning 4 million square feet, Marsa Al Arab will be made up of two islands, one dedicated to entertainment and family tourism and the other featuring luxury villas and a private marina, state news agency WAM reported on Monday.

HH Mohammed bin Rashid launches "Marsa Al Arab" mega-project of 2 islands on both sides of @BurjAlArab https://t.co/fpjH5pODRn pic.twitter.com/kwOLaahBSy — Dubai Tourism (@dubaitourism) May 15, 2017

Dubai Holding

Dubai Holding

Marsa Al Arab will feature 140 villas, a marine and water park and a theater with capacity for 1,700 people to host Cirque du Soleil, local media reported. Work on the project will break ground in June and be completed by late 2020, WAM said.

The agency did not mention how the project would be funded.

Dubai’s most famous artificial island, Palm Jumeriah, is home to several hotels, villas and apartments. But other islands it planned to develop were stalled or scaled back after the emirate’s 2009 debt crisis.

Palm Jebel Ali, which began construction in 2002, has yet to be completed, while plans for Palm Deira have been reworked to create a scaled-down project called Deira Islands.

Another man-made archipelago, The World, a 300-island chain laid out in the shape of the world’s continents, has only been partially developed.