Temperature checks, nasal swabs, plenty of beach: Dubai tourism restarts

Travel restrictions remain and the Gulf summer is starting, yet Dubai has reopened to tourists. It hopes leisure travel will pick up by autumn and high season

‘I see a very strong comeback,’ says emirate’s tourism chief, who thinks Dubai’s health care system and extensive Covid-19 precautions put it ahead of the pack

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A member of staff checks the temperature of a tourist at the Mandarin Oriental Jumeira on July 9. Dubai reopened its doors to international visitors last week in the hope of reviving its tourism industry after a nearly four-month closure. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:45pm, 12 Jul 2020Updated: 5:00pm, 14 Jul 2020

After a painful four-month tourism shutdown that ended last week, Dubai is betting pent-up demand will see the industry quickly bounce back. The emirate is billing itself as a safe destination with the resources to ward off coronavirus.

Dubai, which had 16.7 million visitors last year, opened its doors to tourists despite global travel restrictions and the onset of the scorching Gulf summer, in the hopes the sector will reboot before high season begins in the last quarter of 2020.

Disembarking from Emirates flights, on which cabin crew work in gowns and face shields, the first visitors arrived on July 7 to be greeted by temperature checks and nasal swabs.

Tourism chief Helal Al Marri said people may still be reluctant to travel right now, but data shows they are already looking at destinations and preparing to come out of their shells.

Tourists walk on the beach at the Mandarin Oriental Jumeira last week. Photo: AFP

“When you look at the indicators, and who is trying to buy travel … 10 weeks ago, six weeks ago and today look extremely different,” he said.