Holidaymakers from across the world will descend on the UAE this week as the school half-term begins.
Hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi reported a surge in bookings from both domestic and international guests.
Some airlines also put on extra flights to cater for the demand in passenger travel, as the global vaccination drive against Covid-19 has eased travel anxiety.
With the week-long half-term starting on February 14, hotels said they received bookings from a number of international markets including the UK, US, Saudi Arabia and Spain, and many were enticing guests with free room upgrades and discounts on activities.
The average length of stay for our half-term guests is four to five days. If comparing to this time in 2021, we’ve seen a lift by about 15 per cent in occupancy, on average
Nathalie Cockayne,
Melia Desert Palm
Nathalie Cockayne, general manager at Melia Desert Palm hotel in Dubai, said the property, which has 39 rooms, was running at more than 90 per cent occupancy for the half-term week.
“The average length of stay for our half-term guests is four to five days,” she said.
“We have seen strong demand for next week.
“If comparing to this time in 2021, we’ve seen a lift by about 15 per cent in occupancy, on average.”
She said most guests were international travellers, mainly from the UK, US, Spain and Argentina.
Vinayak Mahtani, chief executive of bnbme, which operates holiday home lets in the UAE, said tourists from the UK are topping their bookings list at the moment.
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“We have seen an increase in demand from people travelling from the UK for the half-term break, but we have seen an increase for staycations too,” he said.
“For Dubai residents, we are seeing a lot of demand for our glamping set-ups.
“I think the local residents have been there and done that in terms of resort stays and they are more inclined to try something different, yet luxurious.”
For apartment stays, he said the most popular areas were Downtown Dubai, Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Village Circle and Jumeirah Beach Residence. Glamping bookings have soared in Al Qudra desert, as well as the beach and wadi areas in Ras Al Khaimah.
In Abu Dhabi, Jatinder Singh, director of sales and marketing at the W Hotel on Yas Island, which has 499 rooms, said school breaks were always a busy period.
“We have been witnessing a steady pickup this year and the hotel is at a high 80 per cent occupancy rate,” he said.
“We anticipate higher occupancy leading as the school midterm break starts.
“We do have a stay and play offer online on the hotel website, which gives guests discounts to book rooms plus theme park tickets to Ferarri World, Warner Brothers and Yas Waterworld for the holidays.”
Mr Singh said the majority of guests making bookings at the hotel were from the GCC and Europe, with UAE residents also booking staycations.
Earlier this month, data from travel agency site Skyscanner showed that Dubai was the most popular destination for British holidaymakers in 2022, before Spain, Tenerife and Malaga.
Bookings made in January to Dubai from the UK were up 49 per cent from the same month in 2020.
A representative from flydubai said school holidays were always a busy time for flights, and the pre-planned schedules reflected this.
“This is a popular time for travel for our passengers and our published flight schedule factors in public holidays, national days and schools breaks,” she said.
“We expect healthy demand for travel to holiday destinations like Colombo, Istanbul, Maldives, Salalah and Tbilisi.
“Dubai continues to be the preferred holiday destination as we see more UAE residents opting to welcome friends and family in our city for the holiday period, which is reflected in the inbound traffic from around our network.”
The Emirates website shows that the airline is also operating an extra daily service on its Dubai-London Heathrow route.
Seven A380 flights will depart Dubai for Heathrow, with the additional service scheduled to take off at 3.15pm from Dubai International Airport.
To travel to Dubai from the UK, passengers must present a negative PCR test result taken within 48 hours of departure.
Children aged under 12 and passengers with moderate to severe disabilities are not required to take a PCR test to travel to the UAE.
The rules for UK travel are the same for Abu Dhabi. Whether you are a UAE resident or a tourist, you will need to present a negative PCR test result taken within 48 hours of departure.
If you are fully vaccinated and flying to Abu Dhabi, you must be tested on arrival in Abu Dhabi airport — after baggage collection. There is no need to quarantine but since the UK was removed from Abu Dhabi's Green List, you must take another PCR test on day four and day eight.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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SERIES SCHEDULE
First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30
Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7
Third Test, Pallekele International Stadium
August 12-16
First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla Stadium
August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6
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School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
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
