DUBAI // Visitors to the emirate are to receive a warm welcome from a team of helpful greeters.
The initiative aims to give travellers help from friendly guides as well as warn them about the dangers of using illegal taxis.
“The purpose of the initiative is to make sure that when new arrivals come to the emirate, they are greeted with friendly faces and by people willing to help them,” said Maj Gen Ahmed bin Thani, the head of airport security.
“As part of this, we also want to educate tourists to not use illegal taxis while they are here because they will be overcharged for journeys and could be at risk of crime.”
The 15-day campaign, Welcome to Dubai, was launched yesterday at Dubai International Airport.
It was organised by Dubai Police, the Dubai Taxi Corporation and Dubai Airports.
Visitors arriving at the airport, will be given a brochure – 50,000 of which have been printed in Arabic and English – which will also be available in taxis. The brochures offer details of the type of legal taxis services available and a listing of airport taxi fees.
“The brochure also has important contact numbers for the emergency services as well as advice on issues related to lost items at the airport,” Maj Gen bin Thani said.
“Although illegal taxis aren’t a big problem, we do have cases where they operate in different parts of the city. Our aim is to inform tourists of the issue so that their stay here is as pleasant as possible.”
As part of the campaign, Dubai Taxi Corporation has trained 10 taxi drivers to act as unofficial tour guides.
Mansour Al Falasi, the director of resources and support at Dubai Taxi Corporation, said: “The tourist taxis are a small initiative at the moment where we want to train drivers in a way that they can talk about Dubai and highlight some of the places people can visit or do.”
nhanif@thenational.ae
