I’ve always had a vague impression that Emiratis all head off to Europe for their summer holidays, sampling the cooler delights of London and Paris or the stylish beach resorts of the Cote d’Azur and Spanish coasts.
But you can’t generalise about a whole country and just recently I’ve come across evidence that many are more adventurous in their summer plans, willing to try out new destinations that aren’t on the traditional summer tourist trail.
Bosnia would not be many people’s idea of summer fun, but according to a recent report from Reuters, many Gulf Arabs, Emiratis included, have headed off to Sarajevo and neighbouring resorts for a well-earned break.
Leaving aside the Balkans’ recent history as a genocidal war zone, you can see why. Bosnia has splendid scenery, facilities rebuilt since the 1990s war, and of course it has a rich Islamic heritage that would make many Gulf nationals feel at home.
It is also cheap. Property in some of the Bosnian resorts is competitive enough to attract permanent buyers rather than summer renters, and that has been a trend, according to Reuters, which also points to some incipient tensions with Bosnian locals over different cultural norms. I’m sure these won’t be a long-term impediment to Gulf tourism in the country.
Anyway, there is no such problem in the other example of an unexpected summer destination for Gulf tourism I came across – Azerbaijan.
Apparently, tourism from the Gulf region, and from the UAE in particular, is soaring since the “Land of Fire” decided to relax visa requirements for GCC residents last year. The Azerbaijan tourism website says there has been a 30-fold increase in UAE visitors this year since it decided to allow visa-free entry for Emiratis.
This seemed an improbably huge increase, but now I have reliable first-hand evidence to back it up. My wife and daughter are just back from their annual visit to my wife’s family in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, and they report that the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was packed to and from Dubai.
I’ve made this trip many times, and it’s usually a cabin full of people all involved in some kind of commerce. This summer, however, my wife reports it was predominantly family groups of Emiratis all heading off for their annual escape from the searing heat of the Gulf.
They find Baku a cooler alternative, with a rich cultural heritage and Islamic history that makes them feel at home. It’s also close to the fine beaches of the Caspian Sea.
Baku is my seven-year-old daughter’s second home, and she loves it there for the freedom and the outdoor life. She can live in my brother-in-law’s little house outside the city, complete with chickens, ducks and many other animals – things she doesn’t get in a Dubai apartment.
This year, the whole extended family of in-laws headed off outside Baku for a long weekend. The ancient town of Qabala in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains is now an all-year round resort, with skiing in winter and lots of other attractions in summer – not least Qabalaland, an Azerbaijan-themed pleasure park.
It was also, apparently, a top destination for Emirati tourists this year, with many hotels and villas booked out to UAE nationals. Arabic, a rare language in Azerbaijan, which relies on Azeri and Russian, was widely spoken by enterprising locals who obviously saw a lucrative marketing opportunity.
I can imagine the Azerbaijan tourism marketing campaign: “Tired of the summer heat? Come to the Land of Fire”.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
RESULTS
Cagliari 5-2 Fiorentina
Udinese 0-0 SPAL
Sampdoria 0-0 Atalanta
Lazio 4-2 Lecce
Parma 2-0 Roma
Juventus 1-0 AC Milan
EA%20Sports%20FC%2024
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20EA%20Vancouver%2C%20EA%20Romania%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20EA%20Sports%3Cbr%3EConsoles%3A%20Nintendo%20Switch%2C%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20PC%20and%20Xbox%20One%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
Hachette Books
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS
Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals
2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25
Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey
Avedis Hadjian, (IB Tauris)
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5