To take the DC on holiday to Dubai?

[FudgeBrownie2019]

We have two DC, 14 and 9. We've travelled fairly regularly with them but haven't ever done anywhere like Dubai/UAE. DH has found some summer holidays in those areas but I have a little weird feeling about going there - no idea why, no rational reason, I'm just uneasy but can't really put it into words.

Would you go there with DC? Have you been there with DC? Is it somewhere you'd be willing to visit?

My parents lived there for a while, it's a fun trip but don't go in summer! After May it is FAR too hot to do anything in the daytime - easily 40-50 in the shade and just moving between front door and car leaves you drenched in sweat.

Strange disconnect on this thread between people pointing out human rights/ women’s rights/ environmental issues and those who have had enjoyable holidays there but don’t mention why they felt it was ok to ignore those things.

The engineering is fascinating- to create an amazing city from a dessert in two decades is an incredible achievement.

Yes, and now we're all having our just desserts because of the environmental problems this has contributed to. We have our plastic paradise there but hundreds of thousands of square miles are turned into a burnt out desert in other places.

There is price for everything.

Strange disconnect on this thread between people pointing out human rights/ women’s rights/ environmental issues and those who have had enjoyable holidays there but don’t mention why they felt it was ok to ignore those things.

Well, speaking as someone for whom this is the 4th country I've lived in, and the 35th I've visited, I've had to "ignore" human/women/environmental issues in all of them, and many were far, far worse then Dubai. If I wanted to get on a high horse and choose my destinations based on their human right & environmental track records the only place I could live would be Antarctica.

Wonderful place! Lots to do, good food, great hotels, lovely climate, beautiful sea - what's not to like?

Nope , those countries are run by backwards arseholes.

I'm very curious where all of these posters who wouldn't go because of the human/women's rights are going on vacation? Where is this nirvana of equality?

Probably the Isle of Harris this year. I'm not going to pretend the housework split in every home is 50/50 and the council have apparently got rid of the food waste bin so not quite a nirvana but at least the local people are unlikely to arrest you if you get raped and the water supply comes mainly from the sky.

Mumsnet really does have a lot of hate for Dubai.

Those people working there are able to send money back home to their poor families.

There are a lot worse places in the world regarding human rights.

It's very safe, a lot safer than London.

And the architecture is just amazing.

Probably the Isle of Harris this year. I'm not going to pretend the housework split in every home is 50/50 and the council have apparently got rid of the food waste bin so not quite a nirvana but at least the local people are unlikely to arrest you if you get raped and the water supply comes mainly from the sky.

Well that sounds great. I prefer learning about and experiencing other cultures on holidays, but 50/50 housework split is certainly something to consider.

I'm very curious where all of these posters who wouldn't go because of the human/women's rights are going on vacation? Where is this nirvana of equality?

Since you ask we went to Norfolk last year and will rent a cottage in Sussex next summer for a week. We have never flown with our DC. I am not as judgmental as I sound, as I flew a lot pre DC but I’m trying to do the right thing now for the planet they and their children will grow up in.

Absolutely not. My DC would refuse to go there anyway.....

Funniest stealth boast ever

FGS. I was describing MY personal experience in Dubai. How rude are you!

Your personal experience?

Of course you were.

My god daughter lives there but they come to England for summer as it’s so stifling you can’t do anything. Avoid our summer.

I visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi with work a few years ago. The inequalities in society are hard to stomach.

There is a hierarchy within the migrant labour force. I visited a factory where the terms and conditions of employment seemed reasonable enough. At the bottom of the pile though for those working on buildings and in the service industry, life appears utterly miserable. They earn no more than 150 US dollars a month and are accommodated on compounds which look more like prisons (I saw one).

What I found most repugnant though was how people living there - locals and ex pats - justified the status quo by continuously saying how much better off these poor unfortunates were in UAE rather than their home country. It still doesn’t make it right.

People have been thrown in the slammer there because they’d stepped in some weed in transit and it was detected on their shoe. Not worth the inconvenience imo

I live in UAE and had both my DC there. Absolutely no reason why you shouldn't holiday there but there are some things to consider. 1. Dates, it is very hot and humid in summer, too hot for the beach or water park. Don't come any later than May.
2.It is an Islamic country, you can drink here. You don't need to cover up but shorts and skirts should not be too short and avoid thin straps.

1. Drinking is fine but don't wander around the streets drunk but I'm sure you wouldn't do that any way.
2. If you are married you will have no issues and if you need meds make sure you have your prescription with you. There is an o line page where you can request special permission for meds. Can't remember exactly but will find if you need.

You would have a great holiday if you come.

Absolutely not from me. No way would I go to a place that condones slavery for thousands of workers from Asia. Not into muslim countries. But that is just me. Don't like their laws so don't travel there.

There are human rights issues, undoubtedly but my view is you don’t change attitudes and help nations move forward by isolating them.

Perhaps, but nor do you do it by actively supporting the economy which is built on those same human rights issues. If tourists still come and stay in the tacky hotels made affordable by the use of indentured labour, singing the praises of a land that allows you to buy bacon sandwiches and swim in artificially cooled pools, then what incentive do they have to change a single thing?

They don’t feature in worst performing countries from environmental perspective. Lots of African countries, India, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Haiti, Nepal, Solomon Isles, Bahrain all much worse. It ranks 76 on EPI out of 180 nations - so not exactly the worst offender environmentally. Not quite Switzerland or Denmark either though.

Never been so please correct me. But everything seems to be geared towards spending lots of £££. You can't just walk around- too hot / inappropriate.
Not a holiday I would choose.

Other posters are much better at explaining than I am.

I just think that there are so many other lovely places to travel if you’re looking for a Dubai style holiday, places where you won’t be imprisoned if you’re raped

I’m sure it’s a lovely place if you’re into luxury hotels and shopping but surely you can get that in other places in the world?

ExH travels a lot for work and tried to get me to go with him many times. I’m very glad I said no.

Would never go.
Not sure how you can compare ancient city of Jerusalem, to modern Dubai!! Have no idea how you came to that conclusion (maybe covering up for the holy sites).

3. Drinking is fine but don't wander around the streets drunk but I'm sure you wouldn't do that any way.

You'd probably just be told by the police firmly to go home, as has happened to me on a couple of occasions. They really don't want to arrest westerners if they can help it. Sometimes their hands are tied - if there has been a complaint from a local, for example.

If you're driving and have an accident and you've been drinking, then you're really in the shit.

I’m assuming the majority of tourists who go to Dubai don’t really experience the culture of the country, they go for the hotels, water parks, shopping malls etc

@Nanamilly

Goodness, your responses are really odd. Not sure why you are so insistent that there are SO many Arabic speaking foreign workers in UAE that any visitor must have continually interacted with them.

A quick look at countries of origin of migrant workers in the UAE shows that the vast majority originate from the Indian sub-continent and the Philippines.

www.migrationpolicy.org/article/labor-migration-united-arab-emirates-challenges-and-responses
(which interestingly also footnotes as below: Estimates cited in local media sometimes differ greatly: 2.2 million Indian migrants; 1.2 million Pakistani migrants; 700,000 Bangladeshi migrants; 680,000 Filipino migrants; and 400,000 Iranian migrants. Local media estimates for Egyptian migrants (300,000) do not place Egypt in the top five countries.)

Given I was there for a short amount of time and didn't exactly do a scientific study of where the migrant workers were from, it is entirely reasonable that those I interacted with in the service industry (malls, taxis, hotels, restaurants) were from the Indian sub-continent and the Philippines, as was indeed my impression.

I think you may have had too much sun....