To ask why people like Dubai so much?

[moreyoudoknow]

I know loads of people who now say it's their favourite holiday destination?

What's so lovely about it? Looks too hot to me? Can go above 45 weather wise!

I like the Canary Islands because the sun burns down but it has a cool breeze... a hidden gem if you hate sweltering heat

From pictures, it looks like a city like London that just has pools?

A fellow autumn lover and bookworm! Your description is lovely.

I think it's pretty awful to compare the kind of explotation that goes on there with the UK or USA.

It's more reasonable to compare it to some other non-western countries, where you can have large gaps between the rich and poor and sometimes resort industries that cater to tourists, so you have rather poor people serving outsiders that come there for luxery. Or countries where people are politically opressed.

And there are lots of people who are somewhat, or even a lot, uncomfortable with those places as well. I know plenty of people who would never travel in China because they object to their politics. Or who do not do resorts in some places like Cuba because it feels exploitative.

But I would say that many people feel this much more strongly about Dubai. I think there are a few reasons. One is that the wealth extremes are just so very extreme, and the consumption so very conspicuous. I think the fact that the workers are imported in some ways feels much worse than employment in other countries of people who are on the lower end of the economic scale in some other places. It almost seems like a kind of trafficking whereas in places where the people employed at least actually live there, it seems part of a more natural economic order, and it seems to be done specifically so that those people have few rights.

I think there is an element where the ruling classes seem educated and urbane and the fact that some of their social practices seem very regressive seems even worse as a result. I think many people feel that those same ruling classes, while quite happy to take the money of westerners, actually would like to see them wiped off the face of the earth (maybe that is not accurate but I think people feel that.)

And finally, I think that luxery, air conditioning, and water, like that in a desert feels like a giant FU to the planet. "Sustainability" is really not on the table, no one can even begin to fool themselves.

I’ve been to places I prefer but food and hotel was great

yes it’s built on cheap migrant labour but then if you travel many places will have employed cheap labour it’s just more obvious in Dubai

it’d never mentioned how going to India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Cuba and many other countries that people are paid a pittance we fool ourselves into thinking we are helping then

I couldn't go for many reasons but the main one is their laws regarding gay people. Also people reporting rape and then being prosecuted themselves for sex outside of marriage. It's just abhorrent. Lots of countries have horrendous histories but I have to go by the here and now and I couldn't go to a country where a part of me (being gay) was something that could be punishable by death.

I also like places where I can walk around on my own and explore off the beaten path and feel safe - and I'm not sure if that's the right kind of place. Things I don't want to do on holiday are hang around the hotel, go to a shopping mall, go anywhere artificial etc so it simply may not be a good fit for me, whereas other people might really enjoy shopping on holiday so it could be a better fit for them.

Sun and shopping. It’s dull. But it’s winter sun with a relatively short flight, I guess.

The dessert is beautiful as is the sea. Strange silky pigeons and tiny giant eared foxes. Hills made of stone and wandering camels! Goats balanced on top of cars to scavenge leaves from trees. Gold/spice/carpet souks and people from everywhere. Middle Eastern food and culture….and glossy hotels and shopping centres if that’s what you’re into. It’s a country like any other with good and bad. I would imagine if you went to the uk and stayed in Oxford street you might think it a little limited.

It’s because it’s only hours ahead so you can still work out there and attend meetings etc

The difference with the other countries you mention is that the poverty you see is the result of inequalities within the country among its indigenous peoples. There are huge inequalities in our own country and people living off food banks because they are also in poverty. Dubai is abhorrent because it imports people as if they are commodities, specifically to exploit them.

I don't get it either. Had a friend move there. Have been there to visit her once. She loves it. I don't get it nor do I get why she'd want to stay. Pretty much worth visiting if you had bucket loads of money to spend on the really over the top hotels for a holiday but not worth it for anyone else and definitely wouldn't stay for good!!

We all like different things thank goodness.

Having been once I wouldn’t go back as it’s not for me. I found it soulless and didn’t really enjoy the vibe of the place. But if you enjoy 5 star plus luxury hotels it no doubt floats your boat.

Getting a taxi at night to one hotel after another to eat in a different air con restaurant after another I found false. Prefer a villa in the Med or winter sun in the Caribbean or Canaries.

But different strokes for different folks and all that.

We went to Dubai on a stopover for a few days, and loved it! So clean, safe, great weather and loads to see and do. We went out on the sand dunes in a buggy which was so much fun, went to a midnight feast in the desert, rode camels, walked on the beaches, enjoyed the amazing shopping centres and our hotel, though not the most expensive was amazing! We went up the burj khalifa at night, fab views!

No idea. I went there in my late 20s and loathed it. It was too hot to be outside (40+ degrees and humid), everything was fake, there were construction sites and traffic jams everywhere. It was like the city of folly. I hope to never return.

As opposed to the places that are... days ahead?!

No idea. Id be embarrased to.be there... for many reasons.

I’ve been once 20 years ago, and wouldn’t return for all the reasons given by PPs above. Exploitative of their foreign workers, materialistic, shallow, ski slopes in the heat and climate impact etc.

But - I’m of Asian origin and I know a lot of Asian people who go there. It can be a relief not to stand out for once, as you might do in Spain, Italy etc. If I’m honest, it’s quite nice to be amongst people who are the same colour as you. It’s nice not to worry that there might be pork in things. I know that the richer/powerful local Arab population regard white Westerners as much better than brown ones, but still.

As I say, it wasn’t for me - I live a quiet, humble life, and was horrified by how showy it was. And there’s only so much you can tip the hotel staff etc - you know that their ill-treatment will continue, which I found too difficult to stomach. But I do get why people go.

And actually, I find India, Bangladesh etc just as awful - more corrupt people in charge abusing their power and neglecting the needs of the poorest in society.

Actually, I don’t think I should go anywhere! My last trip was to Norway, which I think isn’t the worst. But no country is completely blameless, so with travel, some level of hypocrisy seems inevitable.

And actually I didn’t know about the problems when I went. I saw it with my own eyes (workers sleeping on the ground on building sites 😰). When I came back was when awareness started to increase.

I’ve been twice, not exactly planned - parents went for Christmas and paid for me to go too, then visited then boyfriend there when he worked there.

I can see the attraction. Amazing hotels, service. Shopping, if that’s your thing. But that’s not really enough for me as a holiday destination. Reminded me a bit of Las Vegas (only been once, part of family holiday when younger).

But it just had a horrible feel to me. (But as others have said other places in world with dubious politics etc. Dubai does get jumped on here). It just feels very inverted. Like I forgot my shawl when going shopping and had to panic buy a shirt, got awful looks in process (fair enough, my fault). But then in hotel bars there are scantily clad women with sheikhs. I also found myself in a very strange situation where it became apparent people thought I was a prostitute because I was a white woman with a non-white man.

I won’t be going back.

Seems very garish and materialistic. There’s something very 80s about it. Can’t see the attraction.

Actually, I don’t think I should go anywhere! My last trip was to Norway, which I think isn’t the worst. But no country is completely blameless, so with travel, some level of hypocrisy seems inevitable.

To some extent that's life though, there really is no such thing as a society where no one is poor or exploited or anything else.

So to me it's more about, I guess whether it seems particularly bad, and maybe also whether it exists in particular because of me as a visitor. If the people of the UAE were mainly the ones working in the hotels and other services there, people might feel differently.

I lived in Dubai for 20years, don't get me wrong there's pro's and cons to the place but that's the same as anywhere in the world and it's changed a hell of a lot from when I first moved there (1994)

The weather is fab, yes it's hot but everywhere has air con so your cool when your indoors (I still went to the beach mid summer) the service is second to none every where you go, it's got amazing food (from the street food shawarma's to the 5* steaks in the fancy hotels) - the food is something I really miss about the place - great shopping and beach's/pools. Then you have the places that are rarely shown in the media..... the beautiful desert, the wadi's, the older baskiya part of Dubai, the souks and markets - the REAL Dubai.

I was never treat badly being female, if anything I was shown more respect..... told to go to the front of ques, helped with shopping, doors held open etc no one is 'banned' from anywhere so to the PP who said they were told that someone wasn't allowed in a shopping mall that they helped built, it is just not true. The construction workers are mostly very proud of the city they have helped to build and they earn a lot more working in Dubai than what they would earn in their home country, that's why they move there (same as why other foreigners move to the UK, to create a better life for themselves and their families) yes you get shitty employers who promise the earth and fail to provide the simplest of things, but that happens everywhere. Dubai has its rules and follows sharia law but if you stick to the rules and respect them, you won't have any trouble and to be honest there rules aren't that bad or hard to follow (you can get drunk, just don't mouth off at a police officer) The media and people slated Dubai when the couple who were found having sex on the beach got locked up and deported.... you'd get locked up for having sex on a beach in the UK!!!
Each to their own though and everyone is entitled to their own opinion about the place

How are the women 'restricted' in Dubai?

💯 🙌🙌🙌

I'm transiting through Dubai airport right now, apparently it's 35 degrees out there at 2.30am. Probably not the best time of year to go!

I'm keen to hear more about lovely, warm, interesting holiday destinations that weren't built on colonialism/slavery and where women are treated equally.

But without the charm.