Dubai further opens its doors to tourists while some countries tightened lockdowns and imposed travel restrictions due to coronavirus pandemic.
Apart from the wearing of masks and social distancing, life in Dubai, a favorite tourist destination, still gives the sense of normalcy.
Restaurants, hotels and mega-malls open for business. Celebrities were also spotted in the area.
In a report by Khaleej Times, Emirates, returns to operating A380 super-jumbos — the world’s largest commercial airliner, to bring 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. If you look at people here, everyone has a mask, and I think it’s cool,” he said.
Apart from the negative RT-PCR tests from their home country and even upon arrival, the Dubai government says that tourists can freely enter the Emirate.
In the Al Fahidi historical neighbourhood in Dubai, mask-clad tourists walk through alleyways, taking pictures of the recreation of life a century ago.
The Dubai government also put hand sanitizers and reminders on social distancing, and most of the restaurants are using the QR barcodes for menus.
“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,” district’s director Nasser Juma bin Sulaiman told Khaleej Times.
A tourist from the United States also shared her first out of the country experience since the pandemic.
“We are very excited to be here and a little nervous, but happy to be out again,” she told Khaleej.
“None of us have had the vaccine yet, but we have small kids that need to be out and need to see the world, so we’re willing to take the risk,” she added.
Dubai welcomed more than 16 million visitors in 2019. Tourist arrivals in Dubai oftentimes breach 20 million before the pandemic. (TDT)
