Dubai Offers Residents $750 Gift Packages for Recruiting Tourists

Dubai has launched a program offering residents gift packages worth over 700 euros if they successfully persuade tourists to visit the Gulf state.

Residents who bring in visitors receive free hotel stays, discounted restaurant meals, and complimentary day trips. The tourists must travel to Dubai between now and the end of October, and residents only receive their package once the tourists have actually arrived.

According to business magazine Arabian Business, the initiative has proven popular, with 10,000 residents already signing up. Nearly 20 million tourists visited Dubai in 2025 - a record year - but tourism has collapsed since the outbreak of war in the Middle East at the end of February.

The timing creates an awkward contradiction for Dutch travelers in particular. While Emirates still operates flights from Amsterdam to Dubai, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently upgraded its travel advisory for the United Arab Emirates to orange, meaning only essential travel is recommended. Several Gulf states received the same advisory this week, effectively discouraging the very tourists Dubai is trying to recruit through its residents.