A huge replica of the Moon containing a 4,000 room hotel is being built

Why travel on one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX flights, when you can bring the moon to you?

That seems to be the idea behind Dubai's new plan to build a £4 billion replica in the city.

The plans are being designed with the hopes of having a "significant impact" on the United Arab Emirates’ economy.

It’s planned to be 74m in size, sitting above a 30m building, and will include a 4,000-room hotel as well as a nightclub, wellness centre and 10,000-capacity arena. Visitors will also be able to experience the sensation of walking on the moon as part of a "lunar colony".

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The “MOON” project has been enviseaged by Canadian entrepreneur Michael Henderson, who is the co-founder of Moon World Resorts Inc.

Speaking to the Associated Press (AP), he said: “We have the biggest ‘brand’ in the world. Eight billion people know our brand, and we haven’t even started yet."

Henderson and co-founder Sandra G Matthews also released a statement stating that they hope to bring in 2.5 million guests every year with the new development.

They said they hope to “significantly impact every aspect of the UAE’s economy, including tourism”.

They’ll be targeting “transportation, commercial and residential real estate, infrastructure, financial services, aviation and space, energy, MICE, agriculture, technology and of course education”.

They added: “[It] will be the largest and most successful modern-day tourism project in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, doubling annual tourism visitations to Dubai based on its global appeal, brand awareness and unique multiple integrated offerings.”

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