HERE'S a quick fact for you: Dubai has nearly 100 shopping malls. Ninety-six, to be exact. Not bad for a population of 2.7 million. But then, of course, Dubai is one of the most visited cities on earth. Last year, it attracted 15.27 million international overnight visitors – comfortably more than New York and behind only Bangkok, London and Paris in the Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index. And international visitors spent more in Dubai than anywhere else. Mastercard estimates the total at US $31.3 billion, a third more than was spent in London.

Hence all these malls, hence Dubai's annual shopping festival (the current one ends today); hence so many other things that make Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, such a vivid, multi-purpose playground.

Dubai, as the latest Pocket Rough Guide to the city-state has it, is like nowhere else on the planet. It has become one of the globe's most glamorous urban destinations, fuelled "by a heady cocktail of petrodollars, visionary commercial acumen and naked ambition".

The futuristic skyline is only the start of it: towering, ambitious buildings designed as a clear statement of intent. Looming above everything else is the Burj Khalifa, all 160 storeys and 828 metres of it. Its superlatives pile up: world's tallest building, world's highest observation deck, highest occupied floor in the world. The vaulting scale of it is staggering and the views on a clear day are stupendous. And, yes, this was the building on whose sheer exterior Tom Cruise performed such nimble heroics in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.

Dubai aims to attract 20 million visitors a year by 2020 (doubling the number who visited in 2012) and the range of attractions and facilities is as startling as it is flamboyant.

A huge indoor ski slope, covered with snow? You'll find it in the giant Mall of the Emirates. Hotels that are must-see landmarks in their own right? Naturally: the dhow-sail-shaped Burj Al Arab, the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the huge Atlantis resort. A massive aquarium and underwater zoo? Head for the Dubai Mall, home to 1,200 shops. The Atlantis, by the way, has an Aquaventure water park and The Lost Chambers within an underground aquarium that is home to some 65,000 marine creatures.

If you're hooked on the idea of shopping, all those supersized malls will lighten the heaviest of wallets and purses. But there is so much else to do in Dubai. Visit the rather fine beaches. Go with the kids to one of the many theme parks. Enjoy the vibrant nightlife. Sample some culture: February's international jazz festival, December's international film festival, the "edgy arts events" in the arts district, Al Quoz. Sample the great outdoors with desert safaris, camel rides or sand-skiing, or take a hot-air balloon ride over the city. There's a lot to see in the old Dubai, however, and the crowded souks teem with everything from spices and perfume to gold jewellery. The Dubai museum is worth a visit, and you can cross Dubai Creek on an old wooden dhow. Or escape the city and see what else the UAE has to offer.

Restaurants, meanwhile, cater for every type of cuisine and every budget, and the fussiest of palates. Gary Rhodes is among the celebrity chefs who have opened restaurants here. Fine dining, beachside breakfasts, boho brunches and rooftop dining are in plentiful supply; there's even a food festival, this year running between February 23 and March 11.

Dubai, it's as well to point out, has proved to be controversial in some respects. Many people object to, among other things, its legal system (there have been a number of well-publicised cases in recent years) but, as one experienced visitor to Dubai put it a while ago: every country has major issues to contend with, but there have been many changes in Dubai over the last 10 years, even if there is still some way to go.

It's been a while since I was in Dubai but crystal-clear memories remain. I remember being dazed by the audacious buildings, shimmering through the haze, and malls that were larger than most town centres; the view from the 27th-floor Skyview Bar at the Burj Al Arab; the highways nose-to-tail with luxury cars; the morning when I had a curved, golden beach all to myself. On the last night of the trip, rather than go to bed at a sensible hour we partied on a hotel rooftop, listening to bewitching Arabic music and puffing gingerly on waterpipes beneath a cloudless sky on a remarkably balmy night. We went for a swim in the sea at 3am prior to our flight back home. We landed later that day at rainy, cloudy Glasgow. The contrast with Dubai could not have been sharper.

See visitdubai.com and timeoutdubai.com