Seven-star hotels and world-class shopping regale international tourists in Dubai—but at what cost? The Budget Babe's International Shopping Advisor Fifi LaMode digs deep. —TBB
by Fifi LaMode
Last week, I wrote about how green Austria is and encouraged The Budget Babe's readers to shop there. Occasionally The Budget Babe also brings up the fact that we are all on this planet together and we have to shop responsibly, avoiding sweatshop-made goods, endangered species, retail (oops, snuck that one in!). So this week we're tackling Dubai.
The United Arab Emirates have oil. Fact: The oil will run out. Also Fact: In order to prepare for their inevitable petroleum-less existence, these tiny bits of land are heavily investing in other profitable industries, chief among which is tourism. Dubai leads by leaps and bounds. In the middle of the ocean they've put up a resort that's a series of islands called "The World" which from the sky looks like, well, the world. They have a real-estate venture in the water that looks like a palm tree, with each frond having some luxury property or other. Sort of a gated community gone berserk.
Their Burj-al-Arab 20-star hotel is huge and opulent, as is everything in this desert oasis of sorts. They're building the tallest building in the world. One of their mega-malls has a ski run, just to give you an example. Dubai's strong point is trade. Everything in Dubai is bigger, new er, more excessive, more gaudy than anywhere else. Great place to buy gold and lots of other goodies from the East. Now it's also a place where you can get Chanel, Hermes, and all their big-ticket buddies.
Not having been there, I can't comment on how good or bad the prices are. What I do know is the locals don't work—literally. The government gives them money from oil revenues. All labor is imported. People struggling to feed their families come from Southeast Asia, Africa, etc. to erect the huge hotels, banks, and resorts which haul in the tourist dollars. These people often live in shanty communities without family support, and without any support from their employers aside from their pay packets. Workmen's comp? If you get injured, you go home. There's plenty more where you came from. Death from an accident? Oops. No multi-million dollar lawsuits here. No minimum wage, no health coverage. Let me say that there ARE ethical employers in Dubai, but unlike the developed world, there is no protection against the unethical ones.
So we have to ask ourselves, at what price is it worth travelling to satisfy our urge for luxury? Should we only go to places where there's little or no poverty? We would be limited to Western Europe and maybe New Zealand, right? Should we avoid places with nasty governments? I don't think so, because if you visit some place like Myanmar, for example, you are helping the economy somewhat, even though they treat their people horribly.
Dubai has some good points: it's friends with the U.S., it's a sort of middleman between the Islamic world and the West, and fast on its way to becoming the New York City of the 21st century. Should we check it out? By visiting, are we perpetuating their vulgar excess and opulence? Are we saying it's ok for people to work in sub-standard conditions so we can have a good time? Or are we just being curious.
Personally, Fifi will not go to Dubai. But I would be interested to hear what the readers think.
View the Globe Trekker DVD on the Emirates for a closer look at Dubai. Also, read more of Fifi LaMode's insightful advice for the jet-setting budget babe here. >>
However, if you want to go somewhere in the Middle East and see great archaeology, Crusader castles, thousands of years of history, and a town where they speak Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, watch for an upcoming article on a really surprising destination!