Desert safaris or activities are on 20% visitors' lists who visit the emirate. Desert safaris or activities are on 20% visitors' lists who visit the emirate.

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has announced updates to the Desert Tour & Camp regulations first introduced in May 2016.

The revisions are intended to further enhance the emirate’s popular desert experiences, elevating the sector’s standards and bolstering Dubai’s reputation as an adventure hub with a distinct and diverse offering.

Dubai Tourism has created a more manageable and cohesive set of rules for desert tour and camp operators to follow, which will ultimately simplify and streamline compliance across the sector.

These optimisations are a result of continued collaboration between Dubai Tourism and key government departments including Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Municipality, and the Directorate of Civil Defence.

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Dubai Tourism Executive Director of Tourism Activities and Classification Sector Khalid Bin Touq said: “In order to further improve standards across the many desert experiences and desert-based activities available in Dubai, all of which remain integral to our tourism agenda, we are committed to helping tour operators by providing an easier and more transparent list of regulations. This is a result of our open dialogue with key industry and government partners, and we are grateful for their continued support as we collectively work towards our shared goal of evolving our targets and services to establish sector-wide best practices, which benefit both operators and tourists.”

The updated regulations will be rolled out to desert camp and tour operators in stages to ensure smooth implementation.

In addition, Dubai Tourism has put together and made available to its partners and stakeholders a clarification document providing answers to frequently asked questions.

These cover everything from health and safety aspects, such as ensuring staff are trained in first aid and displaying Dubai Tourism-supplied safety information cards in off-road vehicles, to essential camp provisions, updated insurance requirements, and basic amenities and services.

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