Would you choose Dubai as a holiday destination?

[Letshopenextyearisbetter]

Colleague told me excitedly she has booked to go to Dubai with her family for two weeks. I said ‘Oh wow!’ But really I was thinking 😬
I realise we all like different things, but just curious if you’d choose to spend your money on going to Dubai? I can personally think of some really lovely places to go for that amount of money, especially over Christmas

No.

That's comparing it to London though. I live in a very safe little village!

No

No, I've done the Emirates on a cruise and it's not for me

I've been going to Dubai for about 25 years, quite regularly. First time, pregnant with DC now 25 visiting friends en route to Sri Lanka. Then, 15 years ago, my sister moved there, and lived/worked there for 12 years until retirement. I actually like it a lot, but not for the glamour or shopping. I like the energy and we can do this feeling Dubai has, the sense that politics now is making the future. Building the Metro, the Canal.

Yes the whole territory is a building site, and the conditions for the migrant labour are arduous, but the migrant labour has chosen to go there and pay the gangmasters for the opportunity to earn in 10 years more than they could hope to earn in 100 years staying at home in India or Bangladesh. The same is true of the Europeans who take jobs there. Dubai is a place to earn money, tax free, if you are prepared to work very hard.

There is more culture and art than most Dubai snobs would concede. I have been to exceptional lectures by world-class speakers and the farmers' markets are really good for produce except in summer.

And, BEFORE anyone tries to tell me that it's difficult for gay people, I acknowledge that. No Muslim country is actively gay-accommodating because the Qu'ran forbids homosexuality............. but that surely leaves quite a lot of the rest of the world to explore.

I wouldn't ever go near the place.
I wouldn't accept a free holiday to there or the other countries surrounding it.

I've got to say your post is one of the most disgusting privileged things I've read.

It's truly horrible.

No. Last place I'd think of. It's not my thing. .it tbh looks boring. Not been though just going on the photos shown

There are some places in the world where, if you have a spirit of adventure, you can go and work hard and earn money to secure your future: Dubai, KL, oil rigs, outback mines etc. Some people think it’s worth the hardship, you might say money isn’t everything but without it you are right at the very bottom of the welfare ladder. So if you don’t want people to have those opportunities maybe you should check your privilege

We loved Dubai. We have booked to return this year.

If I was 20 years younger I would move there. I run my own business that would actually do well out there so I could do quite well. But, I'm nearly 50 and starting to slow down instead.

I don't believe the workers are rounded up in their home countries and shipped out there. They went on their own volition.

There are many reasons to go to Dubai and theres a surprising number of things to do.... Ive been once on business and once on holiday, and here are the things we did - desert safari, sandboarding, dune bashing and wonderful traditional meal in the desert with bellydancers, flame eaters, henna painters, hooka lounge, traditional music etc; Atlantis waterpark and aquarium which was huge fun for the kids; trip to the Old Town and Souk; a sunset cruise along the marina to see Dubai from the water; afternoon at rooftop infinity pool at Aura Skybar - this was fantastic as you swim around the perimeter and see views of downtown, the Palm, the city skyline etc; walk along JBR beach with supper and music; etc etc.

On the plus side of the scoresheet as well, the easy safe quick and cheap public transportation and ride share services, the high quality hotels and resorts for every budget, the safety factor which is a big one, the wide variety of meals and eateries at every touchpoint and price point etc etc.

Im not saying that there are not problems in Dubai, but this sneery attitude of questioning why people would want to go there, is really snobby and entitled. many people do, and like all tourists, the money they bring helps people working in the tourist industry.

Yup! We go frequently with our 11 and 17 year olds, our friends regularly spend a month there in December and we have spent Christmas there, always had an amazing time. Have also been to Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimeh and Ajman , all lovely, lovely people, feels very safe, loads to do

I’d rather shove wasps up my arse.

@CallMeDaphne, I like this expression so much that not only did I find myself using it on another thread, but I have just had a character say it in a novel I'm in the final stages of. So thanks.

No.

DH went and had a great time, with his friend. I was happy not to go and will do a walking holiday in northern Spain later in the year as that's more to my taste.

Nope you aren't getting it, are you one of those, people don't earn enough because they don't work hard enough people.

I give up.

When we went years ago My H said it felt like the blingy bits of Essex or Cheshire but in the desert .

Nope, I am saying that I understand why there is a market for well paid but shitty and or dangerous jobs. And I have sympathy for those that find themselves in that market.

Nope

I like the Costa Brava, I also like wild camping and had a second home in Yorkshire. Why wouldn't people who go wild camping like Spain? People are no longer that easily identifiable.

OP, I wouldn't go to Dubai. I have a lot of Nigerian friends whose friends/family have been caught up in modern day slavery and sex trafficked. My sister got the chance to go for free, but because of the campaigning she has done over the years, she would be a hypocrite. So had to decline or be dropped by groups she attended.

Not a long flight, great weather, safe, lots to do. No brainer.

Definitely not.

That's quite judgemental. Everyone is different.