While less common for Americans due to the double-digit flight time from cities like New York and Los Angeles, Dubai is becoming an increasingly popular holiday destination not just for the world’s wealthiest, but also average travelers coming in for a few days.
Between 2023 and 2024, the number of international tourists to the largest city in the United Arab Emirates rose by more than one million from 17.15 to 18.72 million, while local airline Emirates recently expanded its service to countries such as China, Vietnam, and Cambodia to meet the growing numbers of tourists coming from them.
While the city is associated above all with the Burj Khalifa, tourists also come to experience everything from futuristic architecture to shopping at Dubai Mall and the Sahara Centre.
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U.S. State Department warning: “threat of terrorism and missile or drone attacks”
While strict laws and highly-developed infrastructure make the UAE a safe destination for tourists, political instability in the Middle East has led to the U.S. State Department to once again update its travel advisory for the country.
The closure and reopening of airspace around Israel amid the latter’s strikes on Iran in June has led to a state of heightened security that extended throughout the entire Middle Eastern region — carriers like American Airlines (AAL) and United Airlines (UAL) temporarily suspended service to Doha and Dubai in response.
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“Exercise increased caution in the United Arab Emirates due to the threat of terrorism and missile or drone attacks,” the advisory updated on Aug. 8 now reads.
The UAE remains at level two’s “exercise increased caution” shared by countries such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom due to the risk of terrorist attacks in their capital cities.
“Elevated regional tensions have aggravated the risk of attacks” in UAE
“Residents and visitors generally find a safe and secure environment in the UAE,” the advisory reads. “However, elevated regional tensions have aggravated the risk of aerial and other terror attacks across the region. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning and may target tourist locations, transportation hubs, shopping areas, government facilities, places of worship, and in particular, locations associated with the Jewish and Israeli communities.”
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The description that has been in place for years also reminds travelers to be aware of the country’s “strict rules on social behavior, drug possession, traffic violations, and financial crimes” — particularly with things that may not be considered crimes in one’s country of origin but can lead to jail time or an exit ban from the UAE.
But even amid an escalation in regional conflicts, Dubai is set for a record period of summer travel, with Dubai International Airport (DXB) expecting 3.6 million passengers between August 13 and 25.
As a result, airport authorities urged travelers who have access to them to use Smart Gates to speed up times at the airport and arrive with more time to spare to prepare for the larger traffic numbers. The busiest day in the summer is set to be on August 15, with an expected passenger count of 290,000.
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