Dubai Travel Ban- Was this necessary or a deliberate move by the UK Government?

Having become one of the world’s first holiday destinations to open its doors to tourism in July 2020,  Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, openly conceded that it is a perfect holiday spot throughout the pandemic.

Covid-19 had undoubtedly shaken the foundations of Dubai’s economy as it is solely built upon heavy reliance from the aviation, hospitality and retail sectors. Dubai’s economic crisis has been further exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic, as a result of which the city has refused to lockdown.  For this reason, the Dubai Government openly welcomed the surge of tourists that began travelling to Dubai whilst most other countries prohibited travellers from the UK entering their borders.

Since the peak of the season which predominantly began at the end of November/ beginning of December last year, Covid-19 infections have dramatically increased in the Emirate with daily cases having tripled to approximately 4000 per day. However, these figures are still dramatically lower than the daily infection rate in the UK. The holiday destination has been further endorsed by social media influencers and reality tv stars who despite the backlash by the UK Government have proclaimed their travel to be “essential” due to work commitments. This week the  Home Secretary Priti Patel criticised the influencers for “showing off” and confirmed that no-one should be travelling.

The UK’s argument is that the growing infections in the UAE have caused it to shut its travel corridor with Dubai with immediate effect from 29 January 2021. Having many who have travelled on business trips to the Emirate during the pandemic, I have been told of the exemplary precautions that are being taken in the city which in comparison to the action taken by the UK are second to none

In reality, we must ask the question as to why the city was placed in the UK’s “red list” of countries and why an immediate travel ban has been invoked when infections are considerably low in comparison to the UK and other countries? worldwide.

The Governments move has caused chaos for travellers, Dubai being the central hub for onward transmission flights all over the world. This has also seriously affected British expats and British Citizens currently in Dubai as although they will be allowed in the UK, they will have to return via a third country. In addition, upon return, they will have to hotel quarantine at their own expense.

Travel agencies in Dubai and across the globe together with the travel sector have condemned the UK Governments to move as the measures which are currently emerging in the UK were immediately adopted and put in place in the Emirate in early 2020 when the pandemic first began, particularly the requirement of a Covid -19 PCR test upon arrival into the Country. In addition, masks must be worn outdoors and the use of hand sanitisers and complex sanitisation is openly available in malls, places of leisure and hospitality establishments throughout the city of Dubai.

What is clear is that the UK government will need to be clear on why countries are being added to the high-risk list, particularly countries such as the UAE, where despite a heavy influx of tourists has emerged, infections are significantly low in comparison to other countries and particularly the UK itself.

If new countries are added onto the “red list” without justifiable reason or statistics, this will minimise consumer confidence in future travel.

No one in the travel sector or the general public wants to see blanket hotel quarantine introduced via the backdoor. The Government must justify its motives for introducing such measures. It is apparent that extremely poor governance of the pandemic by the UK  Government and the poor decision-making processes which were apparent from the outset have contributed to the state of our economy as it stands today.

It is clear that strict guidelines and enforcement of such guidelines with adequate policing would have resulted in a different result both in terms of hospitalisations, deaths and the state of the UK economy.

If appropriate guidelines had been adopted, a situation similar to that in the UAE could have been implemented whereby all businesses regardless of the sector would have been allowed to stay open. However, the public is having to bear the brunt poor decision making despite making yet again as there was no public consultation when a decision was taken by the Government to reduce the number of police officers in the UK which is essential in the enforcement of laws.

The travel ban raises further questions as to if the principle was to reduce the number of variants coming into the UK, the correct approach would have been to place on the “red list” all flights coming to the UK.

It would appear that the Government is making a last ditch attempt to reignite an already burnt out economy by keeping all channels revenue within the country. However, this is being done at the expense of significant cost to the public and their freedom at large as there has been a suggestion that people will be restricted from going abroad even for business purposes.

Scientists have warned that travel bans won’t keep mutant strains out of the country. The correct approach would be to vaccinate as many people as possible to reduce transmission of the virus and its mutations.

It is abhorrently clear that this is what is in our national interests and the world's interests at large. The Government has vowed to do this, however, I am sure many would agree that it is now time that the UK Government put into action and deliver many of the premise's made throughout the duration of this worldwide pandemic. 

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