NEWS

World Travel Awards is set to kick off their 2011 Grand Tour with the Middle East Gala Ceremony, taking place at Armani Hotel Dubai on 2nd May. Hailed as the ‘Oscars of the travel industry’ by the Wall Street Journal, more than 400 senior industry figures from the region’s leading travel and tourism companies, as well as a host of international media, will be in attendance.

With a beaming smile, Noah Larkin savoured every moment of his big day at the Burj Khalifa as he was given the rare opportunity to go up to the tower's 154th floor - 30 storeys higher than the public observation deck. "I loved it, it was awesome," said the boy from Orlando, Florida.

The majority of those losses came from writing down the value of a contract to construct the interiors of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Depa is involved in a dispute over variations made to the order and delays, but it did not identify the company with which it was in negotiations. An executive said last year it was not Emaar Properties, the developer of the tower.

The 153rd floor consists of a boardroom for companies who can afford the price tag. Developed by Emaar, the two floors will soon be available for hire by companies.

The safety harness was a condition for being granted permission to climb the landmark, which has been his ambition long before the building was completed at the start of last year. Hundreds of onlookers watched in absolute admiration from the Dubai Fountain adjacent to the Burj Khalifa.

World Travel Awards is set to kick off their 2011 Grand Tour with the Middle East Gala Ceremony, taking place at Armani Hotel Dubai on May 2. World Travel Awards is preparing to show the strength of its support for the recovery of the regional tourism sector with its fifth consecutive annual gala in the region.

Just before sunset Monday, a French skyscraper climber who calls himself "Spiderman" started to pull his way up the side of the world's tallest tower in Dubai. Six hours later, he passed the top floor and started the most difficult part -- a decorative spire.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai was present at the inauguration of the Education Without Borders (EWB) 2011 at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai on Monday.

A man dubbed the 'French Spider-Man' today described reaching the top of the world's tallest building as "an amazing sight and an amazing feeling". Alain Robert took six hours, 14 minutes and 55 seconds to scramble to the top of the Burj Khalifa, completing the feat at the top of the antenna at 12.07am today.

Crowds of people gathered on the Dubai Mall Boulevard faced great disappointment as rumours circulated Alain Robert, the French Spiderman, would not climb Burj Khalifa due to windy conditions. Yet at 6.10pm on Monday evening Robert took his first foothold on the world's tallest tower with one aim — to reach the top.