New Dubai desert tour rules in three months

Desert camps will soon focus on environmentally-friendly practices.

Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has announced new desert tour and camp regulations designed to elevate the already popular pastime to best-in-class standards by establishing benchmarks for tour operators, including those managing outdoor, cultural and hospitality activities.

Operators will now be evaluated on a number of categories including visitor experience, health and safety, insurance coverage, marketing and advertising, as well as transport services and logistics. The new regulations will also focus on ensuring the implementation of sustainable, environmentally-friendly practices. The new regulations will come into effect in three months time.

Guest safety will form an integral part of the new regulations, such as mandatory child car seat regulations, vehicle inspection criteria and provisions to ensure all in-car safety equipment is installed by approved vendors. In addition, all drivers must have completed their tour guide certification from Dubai Tourism, deliver mandatory safety briefings to guests and have all correct RTA licenses.

"Close to 20 per cent of all tourists who visit Dubai include a desert experience as part of their agenda and desert-based activities have consistently ranked among the top ten must-do activities in Dubai. In order to elevate this signature experience and make it integral to the tourist agenda, we have established a rule book for operators that sets out targets, standards and best practices," said Khaled bin Touq, Executive Director, Tourism Activities and Classification Sector.

With the new regulations, Dubai Tourism hopes to position the emirate's desert tour industry as a safe, authentic and dynamic extension of the Dubai travel experience.

Dubai Tourism will complement the standards with increased investment on infrastructure, including new regulations on the upkeep of facilities, e-Permit systems to streamline and simplify the processes, and an inspection system to track offending drivers and operators.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com