DUBAI: Whether it’s a blast into suborbital space or a hotel stay among the stars, space tourism entrepreneurs believe one day we’ll all be opting for out-of-this-world vacations.
They want to build a series of gigantic dome-like hotels resembling the moon, sitting here on planet Earth. More precisely, in Dubai.
Each sphere will be a 360-degree recreation of the moon on a grand scale, complete with realistic-looking craters and texture. Each recreated moon could tower 735 feet high (224 meters) with a 2,042 foot circumference, depending on location and planning permissions.
Canada-based entrepreneur Michael R. Henderson, co-founder of Moon World Resorts, tells CNN Travel that the crux of the project is the moon is a “recognizable brand.”
“Seven and a half billion people know it, everybody loves it,” he says.
According to Henderson, each Moon World Resort will be “a very luxurious and contemporary, fully integrated destination resort, with a lot of components inside that one would already know” — for example, a convention center, restaurants, spa, each with a lunar twist.
Artist renderings envisage spaceship-style interiors and themed entertainment — including what Henderson envisages as the attraction’s highlight, an experience that replicates what it’s like to walk on the moon.
“We will give you the ability in your lifetime to walk on what you will believe to be the lunar surface,” says Henderson.
Moon World Resorts has been in the works for two decades, a time line that Henderson, who previously founded a medical services company, suggests matches the slower pace associated with space tourism more generally.
The project comes with “tremendous technical challenges,” Henderson explains, but he and co-founder Sandra G. Matthews are working with independent engineers and architects to make the concept a reality.
“We basically have a plethora of groups around the world who we just pull in, as we need them. But obviously, once the project actually starts to build, then they will be located in a particular region,” he says.
The long term goal is to build four Moon resorts, one in North America, one in Europe, one in the Middle East and Northern Africa and one in Asia. Moon World Resorts is a licensing company, so Henderson envisages licensing each Moon World Resort to licensees with cash to splash.
The UAE, and specifically Dubai, has been pinpointed by the company as a “front runner” for the opening of the first Moon World resort. Henderson says this is because the UAE is “very popular for tourists” and home to “a lot of infrastructure” projects.
However Henderson also suggests there are “other options popping up,” declining to share more for now.
