The United Arab Emirates has achieved great success in developing the hospitality sector and the economy in general. The country, however, faces the major challenge of getting its local citizens to work and feel part of the growing hospitality sector. The biggest part of the problem is that although the hospitality industry is supposed to be a social institution rooted in the culture of the host country, it is not seen as such and there are various reasons for this. The current situation is quite worrying because the expatriates who make up the largest percentage of Emiratis are also the majority of workers in the sector and hold around 91% of all jobs in the public sector. The attempt to make the hospitality industry acceptable to the local population is mainly hindered by the influence of Western countries on management practices. The lack of integration of religious and cultural ideals in the sector makes careers in the sector not conducive to locals. Dubai, one of the emirates that form the United Arab Emirates, has strategically positioned itself as an icon of tourism in the Gulf region. Constantly striving to be bigger and better, Dubai is home to world-famous icons such as the world's largest shopping mall and only seven-star hotel. Despite all this, most tourist attractions do not focus on maintaining the cultural touch of the Emirate. This means that Dubai tourism and hospitality in general lacks the sense of identity, especially Islamic principles, that would distinguish it from other places. Integrating Islamic principles into the sector would result in hotels and other tourist attractions complying with Islamic law, as is the case in a country like Kuwait. This complies......half of the document......management, vol. 16 n.7, pp. 420-38.Henderson, J. C 2006, 'Tourism in Dubai: overcoming barriers to destination development', International Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 8, pp. 87–99.Lauren, P 2008, 'Grand Sand Update', Travel Agent, vol.332 n. 8, pp. 24-27.Peters, M & Pikkemaat, B 2005, Innovation in Tourism Journal for Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism, Vol. 6 n.3, pp.1-6.Saif, J 2009, 'Leadership: an Arab perspective', The Supply Chain and Logistics Link, pp.56-57.Stephenson, ML, Russell, KA & Edgar, D 2010, “Islamic Hospitality in the UAE: Indigenization of Products and Human Capital,” Journal of Islamic Marketing, vol.1, no.1, pp. 9-24.Weber, MR, Finley, DA, Crawford, A & Rivera, D 2009, 'An exploratory study identifying soft skills in entry-level managers', Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol.9, pp. 353 – 361.