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

Not a chance. It looks gaudy and soulless and that’s before you get to the human rights issues.

There are so many amazing places in the world, why go there?

Absolutely not.

What's lovely about it?

No way. Not for me.I have zero interest in visiting there on a holiday. There are a million more interesting places I'd rather visit.

I enjoy Dubai. If you want luxury brands all in one place, great weather, and amazing amenities. It isn’t to everyone’s taste but it is mine.

Does the modern slavery aspect not bother you at all?

Absolutely not.

If I was there on a layover I’d definitely spend a night or two to see it without having to travel there specifically. Otherwise, no - I’m not keen on the seedy undertones or their treatment of women. Then again I’m not an influencer or a size 6 so I maybe have different priorities/pressures.

I wouldn't. DH has to go there once a year for work and he says it is pretty soulless. The local culture and food are fascinating but Dubai itself has none of that

I have less than 0 interest towards holidaying in Dubai. I’m in negative interest - I don’t know that many people who do go but they’re all quite similar in what they like. I’m sure for some it’s lovely but I just don’t get the idea.

Just let her be happy with her holiday.

You can get that in an all inclusive in Spain or closer

Nope. Plenty of great reasons listed above.

I hate extreme heat and I don't think I could truly relax surrounded by severely under paid workers who have had their passports taken from them...

@MondayYogurt Not stopping her being happy with it

Not until they give guest workers, women and LGBT+ people equal rights.

Who?

Not in a million billion years. I also declined to go on a work trip there too.
There’s a certain type of person that considers Dubai to be a ‘luxury’ and a holiday destination, but not generally the type of person I’d want to be friends with.

Never. Been to UAE once. Shithole

It’s not for me. I don’t think tourists should support the slavery of people. It always shocks me when people say it’s a great and safe place to live.

Absolutely not, I'd hate to even pass theiugh en route somewhere else. The place is like the world's shrine to misogyny, greed, pollution and exploitation.

No, doesn’t interest me in the slightest. A lady I worked with 20-odd years ago used to go three times a year. She liked the crystal they sold over there and said it was much cheaper buying it there than here.

So much like Rome? Or the US?

I’m gay but it’s the treatment of workers that biters me even more than anything. A colleague moved there for work and was waxing lyrical about the standard of living, their staff etc and it didn’t bother him that his nanny, housekeeper, cleaner etc had their passports held by him til the end of their 5 year contracts, and that they were paid peanuts.
If EVERYONE does it suddenly it’s okay- and as for paying hardly anything for staff he was okay with that because they go ‘free’ accommodation ( lived in a tiny room in the building) and were paid more than they would have been in their home countries.

Each to their own but Dubai is not top of my list of places to visit - it's on a par with N Korea.

I would generally avoid places where my gay, now adult, children might have problems and countries where pupils I taught, of Asian heritage, might have problems albeit different ones.

And then there's the slavery/workers conditions/treatment.

I might not be able to change the world but I try not to support countries I have problems with.

Exactly. But the world IS supposed to have moved on from using slave labour to build pyramids or pick crops. FFS.

I can’t personally see the fascination. I have friends that go there, but they are all about hot sunny countries, fancy hotels, taking photos, shopping.

Never have I seen a photo doing anything other than the above.

I like doing all of the above, but need my cultural fix too - I want to see the history, go exploring and surely there must be some of this too?