Travellers develop cold feet amid Middle East conflict escalation; Cancellations surge for Dubai and Abu Dhabi bookings

Faridabad based Shobhit Sharma had left for his honeymoon trip to Dubai on February 22. Everything was going well till Sharma reached Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Following US and Israel’s attacks on Iran and the latter’s retaliatory strikes, Sharma has been waking up to frequent alerts from the Abu Dhabi government on potential missile threats, and sounds of vibrations and explosions.

“Despite being in the soundproof hotel premises, we can hear vibrations and things shaking, and it’s all very disturbing,” said Sharma. “We are not able to find commuting options to get to Dubai from Abu Dhabi and prices of luxury hotels have gone up almost three times due to rising demand for more rooms from stranded passengers. We have a departing flight on Monday, but we doubt it is going to take off,” he added.

Kanpur based Ashutosh Gautam was looking forward to his Dubai trip on March 9. He doesn’t know what to do anymore. “I had taken insurance separately besides withdrawing currency and booking hotels and experiences such as tickets for Museum of the Future,” said Gautam.


“My visa is only valid for a month. Agents are telling us to wait for a day or two and then take a call, but the reports emerging from Dubai are very worrying. We have family friends and relatives in Dubai and they are anxious too,” he added. With reports of damages at a concourse Dubai International Airport, debris from drones causing a fire to breakout on Burj Al Arab's outer facade, and explosions in Abu Dhabi, the conflict will dent tourism prospects for Dubai and neighbouring markets such as Abu Dhabi in the near term, said travel operators who have been receiving cancellations on forward bookings from travellers. Companies said even if airports were to resume operations in the next few days, travellers who have trips lined up in the coming weeks are pressing for cancellations.

“I am getting requests for cancellations for trips booked till March 15-16. Even if the flights resume in a couple of days, people don’t want to take chances,” said Kapil Jain, cofounder and chief executive of Fly Divine Travels. “Travellers are panicking. Hotels aren’t refunding if the booking was non-refundable. We are advising clients to wait for a couple of days as they are more likely to get full refunds if airlines cancel on their own,” he added. Jain said he has substantial bookings till March 20, and a lot of budget travellers prefer going around this time. “The flights are cheaper and it gets hotter post March,” he added. A travel agent said Dubai is quite a big market for most tour operators. “Hopefully, things will normalise soon,” he added.

Queries sent to the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism on the impact on travellers did not elicit a response till the time of going to press. As per reports and a note circulating on social media, the Abu Dhabi government has stated its Department of Culture and Tourism will bear the cost of extended stays of travellers who are unable to travel for ‘reasons beyond their control.’ Sharma said he booked a more affordable hotel in Abu Dhabi for the next few days. “We don’t think the situation will normalise in a day or two and we can’t afford the hotel we were staying at as the rate went up almost three times. For now, we are the ones paying.”