Dubai Tourism optimises desert tour

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Dubai Tourism, has announced updates to the Desert Tour AND Camp regulations first introduced in May 2016. The revisions are intended to enhance the emirate’s popular desert experiences, elevating standards and bolstering Dubai’s reputation as an adventure hub with a distinct and diverse offering.

Dubai Tourism has created a more manageable and cohesive set of rules for desert tour and camp operators to follow, which will ultimately simplify and streamline compliance across the sector. These optimisations are a result of continued collaboration between Dubai Tourism and key government departments including Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Municipality, and the Directorate of Civil Defence.

Khalid Bin Touq, Executive Director of Tourism Activities and Classification Sector at Dubai Tourism, said, "In order to further improve standards across the many desert experiences and desert-based activities available in Dubai, all of which remain integral to our tourism agenda, we are committed to helping tour operators by providing an easier and more transparent list of regulations. This is a result of our open dialogue with key industry and government partners, and we are grateful for their continued support as we collectively work towards our shared goal of evolving our targets and services to establish sector-wide best practices, which benefit both operators and tourists."

The updated regulations will be rolled out to desert camp and tour operators in stages to ensure smooth implementation. In addition, Dubai Tourism has put together and made available to its partners and stakeholders a clarification document providing answers to frequently asked questions. These cover everything from health and safety aspects, such as ensuring staff are trained in first aid and displaying Dubai Tourism-supplied safety information cards in off-road vehicles, to essential camp provisions, updated insurance requirements, and basic amenities and services.

Underpinned by a strong digitised administrative environment that is in line with Dubai’s Smart Government initiatives, the revised regulations are part of the city’s objective to further diversify and increase its desert experiences and attractions. This in turn forms a key component of efforts to realise Dubai’s Tourism Vision 2020, whose headline target is to attract 20 million visitors per year to the emirate by 2020.