FCDO eases UAE travel guidance

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has eased its travel advice for those heading to the United Arab Emirates, having previously advised against all but essential travel to the country.

The announcement follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the US and Iran, with a view to agreeing to an end to the ongoing conflict between the two nations in the next 60 days.

The conflict saw significant amounts of spillover into countries across the Middle East, such as the UAE, prior to the announcement of a ceasefire on 8 April.

The FCDO now states that while travellers are relatively safe to visit the UAE, “the situation remains unpredictable, and attacks could resume at short notice”.

The agency recommends that in the event that hostilities resume, travellers should read official FCDO guidance on the subject, such as If you’re affected by a crisis abroad.

Alongside this, it recommends following advice from local authorities, signing up for travel alerts, monitoring local and international media for the latest information, staying away from areas near security or military facilities, and keeping plans for departure under review, and travel documents up to date.

In the event that an attack takes place, the FCDO recommends that travellers stay indoors, take shelter, or find the nearest safe building or designated shelter.

“An important development”

The decision has been welcomed by representatives of the travel industry. Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of UK trade association ABTA, said: “This is the most important development for tourism to and through the Middle East in some time; we know the government won’t have taken this decision lightly.

“We know from our research that people have been delaying booking their summer holiday because they wanted to see what happened with the conflict in the Middle East, and that the government travel advice is an important factor in confidence to travel.

“While we’re not out of the woods yet, hopefully this change will open up the market more broadly – there are some very competitively priced holidays for this summer, so if you’re still to book, now is the time to do it,” he concluded.