traverselife: travel agents

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Monday, 22 July 2013

What are the downsides of a QANTAS stopover in Dubai, UAE?

(Trigger warning - rape)
Safety signs are everywhere, at theatres where strobe lights are being used, at amusement parks, where some rides are unsafe for people below a certain height, at playgrounds and in shopping centres. They're bright, obvious and sometimes seem a bit over the top with stating the obvious:

But what they all have in common is the perceived need to keep the public safe ... and possibly the venue from being sued!

Some are clearly designed to inform the travelling public of potentially dangerous local conditions, and are very welcome for those not used to such things as wandering bears in camping grounds:

However, when it comes to overseas travel, information about dangers aren't always as well publicised or easily accessible. A vague, generalised comment might appear on the home page of an airline website about potential difficulties when travelling to specific countries, and even the "Summary" about a country in the government travel website might not mention some important information.

Recently, QANTAS airlines has partnered with Emirates, and all flights to the UK now pass through Dubai. It's being presented not only by the airlines, but by travel agents in Australia, as a wonderful place to break your long journey by a few days or more.

Easily accessible QANTAS information about Local Culture in Dubai includes:

Respect: Travellers to Dubai should always remember to respect local laws and traditions. Alcohol is only served at licensed establishments and people should dress and behave with modesty during their stay.

There is no link to further information such as: http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/?topic=United_Arab_Emirates where we see the following:

Exercise a high degree of caution
This alerts the traveller to read further.

Given the extremely restrictive laws and harsh penalties for many things perfectly acceptable in Australia, wouldn't it be responsible for both QANTAS and Emirates to direct passengers reliable and comprehensive information so that they don't end up in jail where the Australian Government will have little ability to assist?

What the brochures don't tell you:

Alcohol is served in bars and clubs at most major hotels but may only be consumed by hotel guests. Residents are not allowed to drink in hotels unless they hold a liquor licence. The legal age for alcohol consumption by licence holders in the UAE is 18 years of age, though a Ministry of Tourism by-law requires hotels to serve alcohol only to those over 21 years. Drinking in public or being intoxicated in a public place is illegal and offenders may be arrested. Foreigners have also been arrested on arrival in the UAE after becoming intoxicated on incoming aircraft or while in transit.

Imagine that you and your friends are staying in different hotels and that you've had a few drinks together. It's not unheard of for a group of Aussies to have a few too many drinks before finding a taxi back to their own hotel! Given the lack of information on the QANTAS website they'd be unaware that:

Visitors to the UAE should also be aware of incidents arising from the use of taxis where passengers are intoxicated. Any dispute with the driver may result in the passengers being taken directly to the police station and charged with public intoxication.

No doubt QANTAS was aware of these laws before encouraging Australians (who are known to enjoy a drink) to visit. What were they thinking?

Would any Australian reading the extremely superficial cultural information on the QANTAS website realise that if they do happen to be arrested for being drunk that:

If you are arrested or jailed, the Australian Government will do what it can to help you but we can't get you out of trouble or out of jail. Any custodial sentences will be served in local jails. (smarttraveller.gov.au)

We're used to being warned about potential dangers, and safety reminders are often welcome. Here is a very real danger, yet the warning about the possibility of a jail sentence after having a night on the town while on holiday is not obvious.

But it's not just the danger of having a few drinks too many, are you aware that:

Medications available over the counter or by prescription in Australia may be illegal in the UAE.

If you're travelling to the UAE, do you know where to go to find which medications are deemed illegal? Can your travel agent direct you to the information?

The crime of being the victim of rape
Did you also know that if you're unfortunate enough to be raped in the United Arab Emirates that you should not report the crime to the authorities?

Did you also know that if you're raped by one, or a multitude of men, that if you're injured and need medical attention, that you shouldn't seek medical assistance until you've first contacted your Embassy?

Did you also know that if you're employed by some companies in the United Arab Emirates and are raped, that it's best not to tell them or you could end up with the additional stress of being fired.

Unfortunately these and other horror stories aren't isolated examples. Yet this is the country that QANTAS is now funnelling unwary Australian tourists through on their way to the UK and in which travel agents are encouraging stopovers.

Helpful information about the potential danger of travel to the UAE is tucked away in the Australian government travel website www.smarttraveller.gov.au, rarely read beyond a cursory glance by the novice traveller because, understandably, being jailed for being raped is a possibility that hasn't been considered. A victim of rape would naively assume that seeking medical help would be safe and they certainly wouldn't think that if they'd been violently abused, that seeking necessary medical attention would result in being charged with "having sex outside marriage" and ending up being held in custody, with your passport confiscated and not allowed to make a phone call for assistance.

Being jailed for being raped has been reported about at least two young women, one an Australian who was jailed for 8 months for the "crime", the other a young Norwegian who will be in jail for 16 months on charges including being raped.

The UAE with its vastly different expectations of behaviour and brutal attitudes towards women and sexuality, is "set to be one of the hottest destinations from Australia in 2013" (QANTAS website) where even our Embassy may be unable to assist if you're the victim of rape and have been charged with that "crime".

Victims of sexual assault: It is possible that victims of sexual assault may be charged by UAE authorities for engaging in sex outside of marriage and be dealt with according to the criminal law. There have been cases in the UAE where sexual assault victims have been imprisoned after reporting an incident to local police or upon seeking medical assistance. Sexual assault victims should contact the Australian Embassy in Abu Dhabi or Consulate-General in Dubai, or the Consular Emergency Centre in Canberra, as quickly as possible to obtain relevant information on these issues and guidance on what support services may be available. Consular officers cannot provide legal or medical advice but can provide lists of English-speaking service providers who may be able to assist you in this process. Contact details are listed under Where to get help.

Note the use of the word "may" - it's not clear that there are support services or that they will be able to assist.

All women, but particularly young, unmarried women need to be extremely careful when travelling in the UAE - even if it's just a stopover. Drink spiking happens - you will be blamed if you're the victim of sexual abuse and could well end up in jail. Is it worth it?

Good one QANTAS - more young women will now be exposed to this vile attitude towards women and rape and a culture which appears to condone the abuse and jails the victim. A culture where women are less than second class citizens. I have the horrible feeling that these two publicised cases aren't going to be the last.

Thinking about ethics as I often do, I'd be uncomfortable promoting Dubai as a stopover for men or women without encouraging them to read the extended DFAT website thoroughly. It's relatively easy to search for information about being drunk (a crime), holding hands (a crime) and even the crime of looking at local women (another crime), (here) but it's not on the QANTAS website and there is no link or even the hint that you need to understand local customs in far more detail than one would normally expect. The issue of rape is not surprisingly, avoided or ignored expect on the DFAT website.

Jewish Australians
If you're a Jewish Australian, forget it, it's possible you may not be allowed to leave the airport, although that's unclear (here) - which could be a blessing in disguise! It's certainly not clear from information provided by QANTAS. Good one QANTAS for supporting discrimination. But what happens if lots of aircraft are grounded and airport hotels are full? Where do our Jewish friends go? If they're not allowed to leave the airport - will they be forced to sleep on the floor in the transit lounge?

Do travel agents remember to ask all travellers? Do they remind travellers to get a new passport if they've travelled to Israel? Do they give clear information about who to contact and NOT to contact in the case of emergencies and why this is vital? Can they direct travellers to information about local laws?

GLBT and defacto couples
Not only will there be a clash of cultures with attitudes towards drinking and holding hands in public, but sex outside marriage is illegal and you may be asked to prove that you're married. I wonder how many Australian couples are made aware of this before travelling? What does QANTAS suggest they do?

Homosexual acts and sex outside of marriage: Homosexual acts and all kinds of sex outside of marriage are illegal and may lead to severe punishment, including imprisonment and fines. Foreigners have been imprisoned for having sex with people to whom they are not legally married. De facto relationships and civil unions are not recognised in the UAE and any sexual acts within these relationships are considered to be sex outside of marriage. It is also against the law in the UAE to live together or share the same hotel room with someone of the opposite sex to whom you are not married or closely related. If checking into a hotel as a couple, you may be asked by management to prove that you are legally married. These laws apply equally to UAE residents as well as visitors.

QANTAS, I won't be staying in Dubai, and I'll discourage everyone I know - I refuse to support a country which openly condones violence towards women and blatant discrimination towards fellow Australians. You haven't provided clear information or obvious links to smarttravellergov.au and appear not to have thought through the implications of your partnership with Emirates, not only on your own staff, but on Australian tourists.

Tourists could understandable be forgiven for assuming that if Australia's trusted airline QANTAS and their travel agents are encouraging a visit to the UAE, that the country is relatively safe. Given the warnings on the Australian Government travel website, that is a questionable assumption.

Travellers need much more than a superficial "be careful, they have different laws there". That is such a vague statement as to be meaningless for the unwary, inexperienced traveller who knows nothing about Sharia law. The sign at the start of this post about bears is more helpful. It's clear the situation and danger is taken seriously and the traveller is appropriately warned about the danger which could be experienced. You are able to make an informed decision before staying.

Lift your game QANTAS and Emirates and give the travelling public adequate information about the "hottest destination for 2013" so they can make a fully informed decision about whether they choose to visit or not.

Racism
For anyone who wants to use this a platform for racism think very carefully about blanket assumptions about any group which has repressive attitudes towards alcohol, women and sexuality. Right wing, fundamentalist men in many religions including Christianity and Judaism as well as Islam have more similarities than differences in this regard.

So called christian men in the US and Australia profess very similar brutal attitudes towards women and are keen to impose repressive, backwards ideas onto the rest of us. Some make laws about what women can and cannot do regarding pregnancy, others are determined to impose their creationist views and disregard for science onto schools. In Australia, men have used their position as priests to sexually abuse children and have systematically, knowingly and deliberately covered up the crimes.

All countries have their share of both progressive and fundamentalist groups - thankfully, so far in Australia they haven't managed to gain as much power as those who make the laws in the UAE.

Let's keep it that way.

........
https://www.facebook.com/smartraveller.gov.au

http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/United_Arab_Emirates

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/flights-dubai/global/en#local-culture

http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/a_date_with_dubai_travel_city_guide.htm

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/dont-kiss-dont-swear-rules-of-a-dubai-stopover-20130326-2grsc.html

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/get-to-grips-only-with-rules-on-dubai-transit-20130323-2gmef.html

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advisor/qantas-answers-questions-on-emirates-deal/story-e6frfqfr-1226609581728

http://www.jewishnews.net.au/qantas-no-need-to-fly-via-dubai/27830

Sunday, 24 October 2010

burnt fingers, but ok now

Now, I don’t want to open a Pandora’s Box here about poor hotel accommodation, I’ll leave that to Darren at http://www.travel-rants.com - a blog I wish I’d found months ago, as it would have prevented a lot of stress.

London Olympics

I really want to warn readers that with the Olympics coming up, to be very wary about booking accommodation in and around London, even if it is though your usually reliable travel agent - particularly if they haven’t visited the hotel personally. They’re relying on information given to them by their suppliers, and we international guests trust that this will be accurate. I’ve just had my fingers burnt, and as a result am significantly out of pocket after finding alternative accommodation at the last minute. But at least we were able to find somewhere else to stay - I doubt this will be possible during the Olympics.

The hotel room

On arrival last month at a ‘Two Star’ hotel in London, (booked weeks ahead through our usually trusty Travel Agent in Australia) we were horrified to find that the hotel room was smelly and dirty, with one broken window latch and the other missing entirely, split wood on the internal very dirty toilet door. It had toothpaste dribbles down almost the entire length.

A grubby tiny bathmat doubled as a fragment of carpet squeezed between the foot of the bed and the shower cubicle.

The ensuite: This area could have been a module, possibly designed for a trailer-home and seemed to have been added as an afterthought to the room. It was raised about 10 centimetres above the original floor, so you had to step up into the cubicle to use it.

The toilet roll was balanced on the miniscule sink, which abutted the toilet, and the shower curtain draped over you when you sat down.

The toilet: There wasn't enough room for your knees between the toilet and the door for it to close comfortably.

I suspect a man would need to have straddled the toilet if he wanted privacy to urinate. The toilet roll was balanced on the miniscule sink, which abutted the toilet, and the shower curtain draped over you when you sat on the toilet seat.

The shower: My suspicion is that you would have to have stepped outside of the cubicle to dry off after showering as there was so little room inside. I was unable to spread my arms out from side to side of the ensuite as it was so tiny, the shower recess was approx 15 inches wide.

On either side of this module were small alcoves, one with a short exposed metal rod (the wardrobe) underneath which was a chair. The other had a compact TV high on a shelf. (A short person like me couldn't have safely manouvered it to a more suitable viewing position).

Next to this was a grubby window looking out on to the street with a venetian blind covering the window with the one missing and one broken latch.

Presumably because the ensuite had (apparently) been added as an afterthought, it made what appeared to have originally been the central lightshade balance against the module door.

The desk

The bed appeared to be an old steel camp style that squeaked when you sat on it. It was pushed into a corner of the tiny room, so that the person on the wall side of the bed had to climb over it to get to their side.

I have never left a hotel in disgust before, but apart from the dilapidated, dirty presentation of the room I felt very unsafe as the room was on the ground floor and as I’ve mentioned the window didn’t latch securely.

The young man at the front office area said we could change rooms, “but they’re all the same, I’m sorry”.

My rationale in booking accommodation through a travel agent was to ensure that we had a relaxing start to our holiday and for reassurance that things would go more smoothly than if I'd tackled the complexities myself. I expect them to take the stress out of travel bookings. London was a new city for me, and I was relying on their expertise (and that of their professional partners in the UK).

Star Ratings: how useful?

My expectation of two star accommodation is much the same as appears on the octopus.com website:

"If you are looking for a unique holiday experience, 2 star hotels are just perfect. 2 star hotels in London can be found in most areas and always offer the same high standard of hospitality. If you ever stayed in a 2 star accommodation before you know what you can expect. 2 star London hotels won’t disappoint and their outstanding charm never fails to impress". ([uk.octopustravel.com/hotels/3/uk/London/2-star-hotels/2/]Accessed 24 October 2010)

So, it seems that both my expectation and a published industry expectation of a two star hotel is very similar: clean, no frills and well run. Sounds good to me!

Other 2 star hotels we stayed in later in our holiday in Paris, Vienna and Milan were good, perfectly suitable for our needs and even better than described. I booked these through www.hrs.com a hotel booking website recommended by a colleague in Germany. It was easy to use and hotel descriptions and customer ratings were reliable and clearly presented.

Pam Foden the Operations and Industry Engagement Manager at VisitEngland says in a comment on travel-rants.com that“ Having an official star rating helps potential guests know what to expect.” [ http://www.travel-rants.com/2010/10/09/hotel-star-ratings-useless/] As a consumer I expect the rating to be reasonably accurate.

Google search

Since arriving home, I’ve had time to look at information from a few sources regarding a hotel, and I certainly wish I’d done this prior to booking, but even so the information seems inconsistent and isn't always easy to find. (But isn't that why I consulted a travel agent in the first place?)

The following 3 sites make for interesting reading.

I've discovered that booking.com makes it easy to assess if the hotel is what you're after.

But look at this one from a United Kingdom website. The words under the TripAdvisor logo read: "Sorry, no reviews are available for this property". No TripAdvisor Reviews? Really? We consumers really have to be vigilant and on the ball

And a comparison with an Australian web site - same hotel. There are 2 green dots next to the TripAdvisor rating, and you can click to get to the reviews and customer photos.

Confusing isn’t it.

But at least from the Australian octopustravel.com I can easily click through to TripAdvisor’s most recent reviews and photos and find information that would have influenced my booking. But I notice that no information is given about the rooms under "Information".

But what if I'd only looked at the UK site? There is some inconsistency in the amount of information offered.

What do TripAdvisors' travellers actually report?

By now, thoroughly intrigued and wondering what else I'd find, I went directly to TripAdvisor. I hadn't used TripAdvisor prior to this as I'd assumed hotels would post positive comments about their own establishments and scathing ones about their competitors. I also figured that there could be grumpy people who could post malicious unsubstantiated comments. I was skeptical.

But here’s a shot of what I found for the hotel in question, and when I started reading those 59 reviews it made me angry.

The consistently negative reviews go back to July 3^rd 2005 – that’s 5 years with 76% of customers not recommending the hotel. This isn’t an isolated grumpy person, but a pattern of scathing/shocked/horrified/distressed/disbelieving comments - whatever word you choose to use, there are many, many unhappy guests.

How is it possible that with 5 years of consistently negative comments many relating to the issues we confronted, that this accommodation was referred to my travel agent as an option? I don't object to the hotel's existence, it no doubt serves a purpose. I do object to the (dare I use the word misleading?) description passed on to me, and the fact that the 2 star rating description quoted above is so woefully inappropriate in this instance. It's not that the hotel has had a sudden change of fate, and recent sad things have happened, this is ongoing history. Off the top of my head I can't think of any industry where this kind of "service" would be tolerated and apparently condoned.

5 years of consistently negative comments is a fair amount of time by anyone's assessment. I thought there was a code of conduct amongst professional travel agents? What is going on in the hotel industry in London?

It seems we need to do a lot of independent research to find ... what? How do we know what's true, and what isn't? who's being open, and who's withholding information? and how far do we need to search? Which country's websites should we use? If you're moving to a new city every 3 or 4 days, this level of research would eat up a huge amount of time,and that's not why you're travelling is it?

Every cloud has a sliver lining J The young man at the hutch-like reception area kindly found the phone number of a major hotel chain and allowed us to use the phone to book through them. There was ONE room available within cooee – and what a room.

Chalk and cheese Just thinking about Hotel Indigo in Paddington is relaxing. Have you heard of the Golden Mean? The hotel is designed along those principles. It’s amazing!

Thank goodness we hadn’t yet maxed out the credit card as this put a serious dent in it. Sadly, it’s not the sort of place we usually stay in. Our budgeting is tightly controlled, and living simply is second nature. But as a salve to soothe the jetlagged, frazzled, frayed and jangled nerves, this was just the medicine!

The welcome was warm (I wonder if I exuded distress and the concierge took pity on me or if all guests are treated so kindly?) the room small and space was used well. the towels were huge and deeply fluffy.

Although the rate was 'room-only', we were given a breakfast voucher (the breakfast was lovely, generous helpings, and GOOD coffee!), and a discount voucher for a main meal. The staff were courteous and welcoming and so we naturally returned for the discounted meal later in the week.

(We then found a significantly cheaper chain for the remaining days – a long way out, but still just barely affordable - there was little choice available for an on the spot booking. An Ibis Hotel, we've stayed in them before: reliable, consistent clones, predictable, and an ok place to spend a night or 2.)

I’ve been known to get on my soapbox about different things from time to time, and a recurring theme is the ethical behaviour of companies as well as values and integrity. Many of my clients confront these issues at work - and I'm thinking a lot about them too right now.

I wonder what it would be like working in these two different establishments? I know all workplaces have their ups and downs, but ...

Back to the theme:

Do your research (whether for a career or hotel)

choose carefully and appropriately for your current needs

enjoy the journey!

photos were all taken by the author: September 13th 2010

websites were accessed and screen shots taken: October 24th 2010