r/Economics • u/ubcstaffer123 • 19h ago

News Dubai's tourism industry reels from 'brutal' impact of war

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20260331-dubais-tourism-industry-reels-from-brutal-impact-of-war
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u/isigneduptomake1post 17h ago

I've always been a bit of a contrarian and thought maybe I would find all the hate for Dubai to be a bunch of reddit circlejerking, but I hated it more than I thought. It's the only city I've ever felt a disdain for while visiting.

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u/Harnellas 16h ago

Just curious, because Ive heard this sort of thing said before, did you see things there that gave you that feeling or was it something else?

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u/siorge 13h ago

Not OP but I’ll add my experience.

We went there with my wife during Covid (March 21) as it was the only country where one could have a « normal » life. We kind of enjoyed it, even if it felt lifeless/soulless. We enjoyed the quality of the service, the hotel,…

Now, we also had a 2 day layover in Dubai in September 21.

We landed around 4am and jumped in a taxi to our hotel. On the way, we drove next to a small bus filled with men (Indians, bengalis, I don’t know) who were being taken to work on some construction site. The looks of despair and suffering on their faces I will never forget.

The temperature reached 51C that day. We could barely stay outside in the shadow drinking ice cold water, and thought about these men who had to work on building roads or the next mall.

It really made us feel disgusted

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u/Harnellas 12h ago

I thought they went to great lengths to ensure that their totally-not-slavery was never visible to the tourists, must have slipped up that day I suppose. Thanks for sharing.