Dubai is changing its rules around the sale of alcohol, and it isn’t because after six months of the novel coronavirus we all just really need a drink – but it is because of the virus.

Here in Texas, and in several other states, restaurants were allowed to offer alcohol ‘to go’. After all, alcohol sales make up a good portion of revenue, and a disproportionate share of margin, for restaurants. So this was a vital lifeline. In Texas this change is being made permanent, and I’ve been known to pick up a couple of craft cocktails with my contactless pickup meals.

There’s a lot of grey area around enforcement of alcohol rules in the U.A.E.. However tourists who are 21 years old or more can drink in licensed venues in the UAE as well as onboard flights. Emirates touts their wine program investment. It is not illegal to drink the wine served onboard.

Emirates Onboard Bar Choices

Visitors to Dubai can now purchase alcohol from distributors by showing their passports. In a move aimed at improving attractiveness of the sheikhdom to tourists amidst severe economic contraction brought about by the global pandemic, tourists no longer have to get a purchasing permit or risk arrest.

Foreign workers have departed, business and tourist traffic largely stalled, and Dubai’s real estate market is crashing to levels last seen over a decade ago. Expo 2020 has been postponed to.. 2021. The Islamic country is turning to alcohol to help turn things around.

Alcohol sales have long served as a major barometer of the economy of Dubai, a top travel destination in the UAE, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates. Ice-cold bottles of beer tempt tourists on hotel beaches, while decadent Champagne-soaked brunches draw well-to-do crowds of expatriate residents. The sales also serve as a major tax-revenue source for Dubai’s Al Maktoum ruling family.

In Dubai, alcohol sales in general reflect the confidence of buyers in their own finances and in turn, the economy.

During lock down alcohol distributors were permitted to offer home delivery for the first time. And while non-Muslim residents “are supposed to carry red plastic cards issued by the Dubai police that permit them to purchase, transport and consume beer, wine and liquor” to avoid fines or arrest, those cards first became easier to get for residents (no longer requiring an employer’s permission). Now tourists have their exemption as well, using just a passport.

That alone isn’t likely to solve problems for the tourism industry, but it creates an interesting puzzle. Traditionally economic growth has been expected to lead to greater social liberalism. That hasn’t happened in China, of course. Here it’s economic contraction that’s doing the work.

Burj Al Arab

Dubai is open even to Americans with negative Covid test and following certain guidelines. You can go, and it’s even easier now to buy your own alcohol.

(HT: Reid F.)