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Shelled by Iranian missiles and drones for several weeks, Dubai, which represented the city of dreams for millions of expatriates, lost a lot in the war. The emirate is now trying to rebuild itself.
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On the other side of this arm of the sea, in Iran, barely 150 kilometers away, military tensions with the United States are resuming. But in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) calm has returned, with even the return of a few tourists, such as French people who came from the island for ten days of vacation. They had booked their stay before the start of the war and almost never saw Dubai. “I said: we’re canceling everything, I don’t want to take any risks. And he said to me: no, wait a bit. We’ll see how it goes until the agency calls us and confirms that we could leave.” says the woman.
They are probably among the first French tourists to return to Dubai. Because officially, the United Arab Emirates are still classified in the orange zone, not recommended by the Quai d’Orsay. Many normally crowded areas remain empty, such as the Marina. Stéphanie Neuer, founder of SCN Travel & Morer, is desperately awaiting the return of European airlines. “Without plane, no tourists. Emirates is back at full capacity. So we hope that other airlines will follow soon“, she said.
She leads the France Télévisions team to a French restaurant still open, “La Brasseria”, but almost empty. The turnover of David Croiser, the pastry chef, plunged by at least 40%. For him, the solution is in one word: “We need peace, period. It stops there. Only peace will make tourists come back. We know that it will come back. It’s this story of peace, that’s all.”
According to estimates from specialist agents, the shortfall in tourism already amounts to several hundred million euros. Several establishments, among the most prestigious, preferred to officially close for renovation work. “It is one of the symbols of Dubai. The Burj Al Arab is now completely closed. It must be said that the hotel was hit by an Iranian drone at the start of the war. Today, a total of around ten palaces like this one in Dubai are closed, due to lack of customers.”please indicate Nicolas Bertrand, envoyé spécial à Dubaï.
Before the war, there were also more than 45,000 French expatriates in Dubai. Several thousand of them are believed to have left, but the majority are still there. The first signs of economic recovery have been appearing for some time, particularly in real estate. A family from Toulouse lives in Dubai. Despite recent events, they decided to buy an apartment there, convinced that the emirate will recover very quickly. “Today, we were able to test the Dubai model, the Emirates. We saw the efforts that were put in place and which bore fruit during the conflict, which maintained the peace.” comments Jean-Philippe Diez, aeronautics salesperson.
“We still have a lot of reassurance work to do. It’s quite logical. A city that is affected by war is never something easy to contemplate“, says Camille Blanco, real estate agent at dubai-immo.com. Dubai is today attracting new investors looking for good deals. A bet on the future, in the middle of an uncertain Middle East.
