TOURISTS FLOCK TO DUBAI
ESCAPING CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWNS
Life in the tourism-reliant emirate looks much like normal, with its restaurants, hotels and mega-malls open for business
As much of the world tightens lockdowns to stem coronavirus, Dubai has flung its doors open, branding itself as a sunny, quarantine-free escape — despite a sharp rise in cases.
While mask-wearing and social distancing are strictly enforced, life in the tourism-reliant emirate looks much like normal, with its restaurants, hotels and mega-malls open for business.
Images of sports stars and television personalities enjoying life at beach clubs and cocktail bars have flooded social media — sometimes to disapproval back home.
Emirates, which restored its network to about three quarters of pre-pandemic levels, is again operating A380 super-jumbos — the world’s largest commercial airliner — ferrying in visitors from Britain and Russia.
Russian tourist, Dmitriy Melnikov, said he came to Dubai because his choices were otherwise limited, with many destinations in partial or full lockdown.
“I am not scared,” the 30-year-old told AFP. “If you look at people here, everyone has a mask, and I think it’s cool.”
But the downside to becoming one of the world’s most open destinations has been a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.
Daily detected cases hover in the mid-3,000s across the United Arab Emirates, which has a population of under 10 million, with 745 deaths from Covid-19 since the pandemic began.
“There are significant risks in Dubai remaining so open,” said Scott Livermore, chief economist at Oxford Economics Middle East.
“A renewed outbreak of Covid-19 would set the recovery back quite some way.”
‘Willing to take the risk’
With a negative PCR test in their home countries — and possibly another upon arrival, depending on the place of departure — tourists can freely enter Dubai, where winter temperatures average a pleasant 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit).
The neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi, which with large oil reserves is less dependent on tourism, has taken a much more conservative approach, generally requiring quarantine on arrival.
In the Al Fahidi historical neighborhood in Dubai, mask-clad tourists walk through alleyways, taking pictures of the recreation of life a century ago.
Hand sanitizers and floor stickers warning people to maintain their distance are everywhere, while most restaurants have replaced their menus with digital QR barcodes, that can be displayed on a smartphone.
“Before the coronavirus, tour groups were up to 100 or 250 visitors with each tour guide, but now things are different, only 20 visitors maximum for each tour guide,” said the district’s director Nasser Juma bin Sulaiman.
Images of sports stars and television personalities enjoying life at beach clubs and cocktail bars have flooded social media — sometimes to disapproval back home.
Andi Pitman, from the US state of
Alabama, said it was her first trip abroad since the start of the pandemic.
“We are very excited to be here and a little nervous, but happy to be out again,” she told AFP, strolling through Al-Fahidi with her husband and two children.