It’s incredible how Dubai has become one of the hottest spots to travel to during the year of 2020. All the richie rich people have flown done to the Emirate including UK rappers.
During the relentless hours one spent glued scrolling on their phones, people were being teased by the rich & famous living it up in grand style as if Dubai like an alternative universe.
The UAE has lately become the latest spot for British rappers, celebrities and media personalities. The likes of reality TV star Megan McKenna and Love Islander Kaz Crossley who made their presence known there for sometime. However there’s no denying that Dubai’s hype this year has reached fever pitch.
Dubai’s hype peaked in the latter quarter of 2020, as the days in the UK grew shorter and colder, attracting agonised Brits looking for a bit of winter sun (which reaches up to up to 28 deg in the UAE). During the UK’s second lockdown, international travel was severely restricted, but flights to and from Dubai opened up as of November when the UK added the United Arab Emirates to its approved travel corridor list. This means those arriving in England from the UAE will not be required to self-isolate, since the country has been evaluated as low risk from Coronavirus.
With European party destinations being locked down all summer, Dubai offered itself to be a safer alternative to Ayia Napa, Ibiza and other party islands after opening borders this summer. To date, the UK has recorded 1.7 million cases of Covid-19, whereas the UAE has only had 1,70,000 confirmed cases. A rigorous process of rapid Covid-19 testing upon arrival at Dubai International Airport throughout the pandemic helped curb imported cases of the virus.
Etihad and Emirates airlines had been showing signs of positive increasing demand with more Brits booking trips to the UAE and the surge flights rose from July onwards, but airlines anticipated a little trouble when the UK’s second lockdown. In spite of this, Dubai authorities were in discussions on London airport operators to make travel easier between the two destinations. Now, business appears to be booming, as flight bookings have since increased by 112%.
A section of Dubai’s appeal is that it is so incredibly instagrammable. It’s the perfect place to flex on social media by sharing pictures of of luxurious beaches, skyscraper views and supercars. Whether it’s one’s favourite rapper posting videos of restaurateur-turned-human meme “Salt Bae” at Nusr-Et Steakhouse, or showing off with heaps of shopping bags from one of Dubai’s many mega malls, the city provides endless fodder for one’s followers.
The usual tourist activities are up and running again. There are the camel rides on sand dunes and quad biking in the desert at sunset. There are jet ski tours with views of the Burj Khalifa – the tallest building in the world – and towering skyline from the sea, lounging on the pristine Jumeirah Beach with the Burj Al Arab in the backdrop, or swimming with dolphins at Aquaventure Waterpark. The stars seem to love the Fame Park zoo – which lets visitors feed giraffes, play tug of war with lions and pet tiger cubs. Privately owned by the billionaire Belhasa family, the park is by invite-only. Anthony Joshua, Dave and Jesse Lingard have all visited the zoo that’s home to over 500 exotic animals.
The UAE can’t replace the UK’s touring circuit, but it does give artists the opportunity to perform in a setting that’s definitely more glamorous than most of Europe’s socially distanced gigs.
In the month of November, MoStack, Not3s and Yungen all performed in Dubai. Former BBC DJ and Fire in the Booth host Charlie Sloth has temporarily moved there, so he can host a UK rap residency at Five Palm Jumeirah’s Penthouse every Saturday night. Recently he posted a picture of his tab which was over £200,000 after a night out with the bill including 53 bottles of Ace of Spades champagne, proving that when you’re in Dubai, you either go hard or go home.
The pandemic has presented venues with an “adapt or die” ultimatum. Dubai’s nightlife scene has been creative in meeting Covid-19 safety guidelines, with clubs operating at a reduced capacity and tables being spaced two metres apart in attempt to enforce a no mixing of groups rule (although some stars’ snaps have suggested the lines loosen a little once the bubbly is flowing).
So where do the stars shack up? The dream hotel is the opulent Burj Al Arab, which is close to £4,000 per night for the club suite. It’s the only seven star hotel in the world. Guests stay in incomparable luxury, with rooms boasting flashy gold-plated taps, whirlpool tubs and complimentary Hermes toiletries.
As you’d imagine, Dubai’s hospitality sector is feeling booming right now. Omar Souab, General Manager of Sofitel Dubai is assured international tourism will bounce back over the upcoming months. “Despite these unprecedented times, we are extremely confident that the economy will pick up and that we as a hotel will gear up along with the economy,” he told Arabian business. The city went through a government-regulated quarantine and re-opened successfully. Social distancing rules and regulations are in place and testing is very accessible… The city will see an increase in tourism over the next few months as a result of the swift and successful response to Covid-19″.
As hospitality and nightlife resume under a socially distanced “new normal”, the doors of Dubai are open for anyone with enough moolah at their disposal. If UK rappers have anything to say on the matter, it was truly 2020’s place to be. Thousands more Brits are looking to book themselves a post lockdown getaway and many are dreaming of shaking a leg on one of Dubai’s beaches.