This study examines the role of a directed gaze in an urban eco-tourism setting of Ras Al Khor in Dubai, the
United Arab Emirates. Ras Al Khor is a UNESCO RAMSAR accredited wetland and has significant conservation
values, yet from one perspective it is an artificially constructed site. The site exists because of previous dredging
in the Dubai Creek and the introduction of mangrove swamp planting and while replicating other sites
found along the UAE coast line it had no prior existence until the 1980s. The paper uses textual analysis
from open ended questions to visitors supplemented by other materials to discuss the authenticity of an
eco-tourism experience primarily directed at flamingos. It identifies different tourist perceptions of that
gaze in a location that is not too far distant from the world's tallest building, the Burj Al Khalifa, and its associated
development of shopping malls, hotels and apartments and offices.