The campaign, announced last week by Lt Col Dr Mubarak Saeed Salem Bin Nawwas, Dubai’s director of tourism police, takes a soft-touch approach with cruise punters in the form of brochures giving them a friendly reminder on what they can and cannot do under United Arab Emirates (UAE) law, which is considered to be among the most lenient in the Arab world.
Displays of affection
“We are morally an Islamic country and traditionally an Arab one. We don’t expect visitors to walk on the streets while drinking alcohol or engage in public displays of affection that offend our culture,” a senior police official told the Gulf Today newspaper.
The campaign will include competitions on the awareness of local culture, with prizes awarded to the winners, as well as displays of vehicles operated by the Dubai police for photo-taking opportunities.
The rapid growth of the cruise industry has led to an increasing number of complaints from residents of popular destinations around the globe who have become increasingly annoyed with the bad behaviour of passengers and the human and traffic congestion that occurs whenever the ships are in port.
Some residents’ committees have even started petitions calling for outright bans on cruiseships.
