Is The United Arab Emirates Safe?

Rising Covid instances and common safety alerts have left American guests asking if the United Arab Emirates continues to be a protected vacation spot. It’s important to spend time in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, or drive out to the mountains of Hatta, to seek out the reply. 

Within the final week, there’s been a barrage of warnings in regards to the UAE that has been not possible to miss. They embody a drone assault that killed a number of building, a foiled missile assault over Abu Dhabi, and extra Covid omicron infections.

The UAE has a popularity as one of many most secure nations on the earth. So how do these latest developments have an effect on guests? Is it nonetheless protected to go to Dubai or Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s two greatest cities?

What’s happening with the missile and drone assaults within the UAE?

It began on January 17, when the State Division issued a safety alert for People within the UAE. After stories of a drone assault close to the airport, the U.S. Embassy urged People to keep away from a building web site on the new terminal of the Abu Dhabi airport. 

Every week later, the federal government despatched one other alert, this time cautioning of a doable missile assault over Abu Dhabi. 

“For those who hear a loud explosion,” it mentioned, “instantly search cowl.”

It seems the UAE had intercepted two ballistic missiles from Yemen’s Houthi rebels over the Emirati capital. Houthi forces additionally claimed duty for the drone assault, which killed three folks.

On Thursday, the State Division once more despatched a warning, reiterating UAE’s standing as a “Stage 4: Do Not Journey” nation and urging People to “rethink journey because of the risk of missile or drone assaults.”

That left some guests questioning if it was nonetheless protected to go to the UAE.

Is Dubai protected from drone assaults?

Final week, even because the chaos began to unfold, I met up with a bunch of American guests from Spokane, Wash. They informed me that regardless of the State Division warnings, they felt safer right here than they did within the U.S.

It is simple to see why. The U.S. at present leads the world within the variety of Covid infections. Crime charges are greater, and vaccination charges are considerably decrease (UAE is probably the most vaccinated nation on earth). Asking if it is protected to journey to Dubai proper now throughout the coronavirus begs the query: Safer than what?

However to get an actual thought of how folks on the bottom are processing the latest safety threats, I requested long-time residents like Remco Werkhoven. He is lived in Dubai for 20 years and at present manages three lodges within the metropolis’s historic district, together with the upscale Al Seef Heritage Hotel.

Werkhoven mentioned his lodges have not had any cancellations due to the assaults, and he feels protected within the metropolis. 

“It is the sort of place the place you may go away your entrance door unlocked and your automotive unlocked, and you do not have to fret,” he says. “It is also one of many most secure locations when it comes to Covid.”

Werkhoven and others additionally identified that the assaults occurred far-off from Dubai, at a building web site in Abu Dhabi and that, finally, the missile assault was unsuccessful. 

His recommendation for vacationers is to get their photographs, get examined, after which “come and luxuriate in Dubai.” After a protracted winter of omicron and uncertainty, he believes many vacationers will do exactly that.

However is Dubai protected? Officers have repeatedly assured company and residents that it’s, and naturally there’s been a navy response to the latest assaults. However as specialists have informed me many occasions over, there is not any such factor as risk-free journey.

There’s all the time an opportunity, nonetheless distant, that one thing may go unsuitable on trip.

How are Dubai’s lodges dealing with the safety issues?

I discovered an identical state of affairs at a number of different Dubai lodges final week. I finished in at two properties on Dubai’s Palm, the well-known synthetic island, and found the rationale behind the tourism trade’s quiet confidence. 

On the Atlantis Dubai, a towering five-star lodge with an enormous water park, safety guards are posted in any respect the entrances. If anybody who seems to be misplaced approaches, they may rapidly instruct that particular person to show round. The sting of the Palm is a sprawling building web site the place the futuristic-looking Royal Atlantis is rising into the skyline. However it’s locked down tight, now maybe greater than ever.

A brief stroll away, the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah has taken related precautions. There are non-public safety guards in every single place, monitoring the entrances for any suspicious exercise. When you’re previous them, although, it is a regular lodge expertise. However safety can get tighter exterior the lodge. Simply stroll alongside the seaside, as I did, and finally you may discover a guard  blocking you from entry.

I talked to Jason Harding, the managing director at Jumeirah Beach Hotel, simply throughout the bay from Palm Island. It is a modern, trendy resort with a surprising view of the enduring Burj Al Arab lodge. 

He defined that guests have already factored in among the uncertainties of journey to the Center East after they e-book a trip right here. Which means one or two stories of safety points will not deter them from coming to Dubai.

“We’re very fortunate,” he says. “Our enterprise has been regular.” 

Is Abu Dhabi protected from terrorism?

Guests to Dubai could be dismissive in regards to the latest safety scares. In spite of everything, the incidents are occurring 90 miles away, close to the UAE’s capital. However what is the state of affairs in Abu Dhabi? To search out out, I visited Abu Dhabi simply days after the State Division warned guests to keep away from touring to the UAE.

Abu Dhabi seems to be comparatively protected from terrorism and Covid.  The land border between Dubai and Abu Dhabi — a easy checkpoint that appears extra like a toll sales space — was on excessive alert in comparison with my earlier go to in early January. The highway cease is supposed to examine your Covid standing, nevertheless it definitely appeared the officers had been additionally searching for indicators of different suspicious exercise. A guard requested to see my passport and paper copies of my newest PCR take a look at. He took his time reviewing my paperwork, scanning for any discrepancies.

On the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, a low-key, luxurious resort on the seaside, the reception space was simply because it was on my first go to earlier within the 12 months. Any extra safety precautions should be occurring behind the scenes, out of the view of company. 

That is precisely the best way the tourism trade within the UAE needs it. I’ve stayed at a closely guarded lodges in Africa. The sentries at one lodge in Kenya had computerized weapons strapped to their shoulders, which was speculated to instill confidence in guests like me. As an alternative, it simply made me nervous. If one of many guards had to make use of his AK-47, the keep would not finish nicely.

Is it protected to journey to Dubai proper now?

So is it protected to journey to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the UAE proper now? Typically, sure. However it relies upon the place you go. Airports and workplace buildings will all the time appeal to consideration from insurgent miltias and terrorists, irrespective of which nation you are visiting. However when you get out into the countryside, to a spot like Hatta, there are few safety precautions and virtually zero worries.

On the Ja Hatta Fort Hotel, only a few miles from the Omani border, vacationers spend their days mountain climbing within the mountains and sampling wild honey from a neighborhood bee farm. This place seems to be like a cross between Palm Springs, with its angular peaks rising abruptly from the desert ground, and the flats of southern Utah, besides that it is planted with corn and date palms.

Is the UAE protected for U.S. residents? Though the State Division might disagree, I feel the reply is generally sure. However that might change at any time.