No stranded Brits to be evicted from hotels, Dubai govt says | World | News
UAE army helicopters fly past Jumeirah Burj Al Arab in Dubai (Image: Getty)
Hotels in Dubai have been instructed not to evacuate stranded tourists from their rooms under any circumstances, in a welcome relief for Britons stranded in the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism has issued an email directive to hotel providers in the city, instructing them to provide all necessary support to tourists affected by flight cancellations or delays following mass flight disruptions in the Middle East as the conflict between the US and Iran continues.
In an email from DET seen by English-language Dubai newspaper Khaleej Times, Dubai’s tourism board outlined how hotels should support stranded visitors.
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“We ask for your cooperation in ensuring that hotel guests who need to check out but are unable to do so due to these circumstances are offered the option to extend their stay under the same conditions as their original reservation,” the DET email says.
“It is important that no guests are evacuated under these circumstances.”
For guests unable to pay for a longer stay, hotels will not evacuate stranded tourists but will notify DET at the first opportunity.
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The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority also announced that the UAE will cover all expenses of those stranded in the crisis and cover the living and accommodation costs of tourists left in limbo.
In Abu Dhabi, the city’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has instructed hotels in the capital to extend the stay of guests who cannot travel due to flight disruptions, adding that the ministry will cover the costs of the additional night.
The update from Dubai’s tourism board comes as the UK Foreign Office prepares plans to evacuate tens of thousands of British citizens if the war in the Middle East escalates.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday it was understood there were around 200,000 Britons in the Gulf region. He called on all Britons who were in areas targeted by Iran’s attacks to register their location with the Foreign Office for advice on next steps. He added that about 94,000 people have done so so far.
More than 50,000 of these people are believed to be in the United Arab Emirates, with the majority of the UAE figure being tourists and holidaymakers. Thousands of people are stranded as the airspace over Dubai is currently closed.
The Foreign Office’s travel advice warns Britons against traveling to Iran, Israel and Palestine. It also advises against all but essential travel to the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain and also issues instructions to avoid travel to some parts of Pakistan.
While British citizens in Saudi Arabia have been advised to stay at home, British citizens in Jordan, Oman, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq have been advised to take every precaution due to increasing regional tensions in the Middle East.
