An increasing number of hospitality venues in Dubai are asking their staff to get vaccinated or take mandatory weekly PCRs, in an effort to assure everyone’s safety and control the spread of the virus.
Given the recently introduced tighter restrictions in F&B outlets, operators are going the extra mile to demonstrate the safety of their venues, explained industry stakeholders.
Antonio Gonzales, CEO and founder of Sunset Hospitality Group, which operates 21 venues across six countries, said he has gone “beyond requirement in terms of testing. Ever since we were allowed to re-open, we have been giving our team PCRs constantly. We are following the approach of the hotels we operate in and getting our staff vaccinated along with their staff when applicable”.
Gonzales said 200 people from Sunset Group’s team of 1,000 in the UAE have been vaccinated so far and expects the rest to follow suit in the “next few weeks”.
Vaccination remains a personal choice in the country, however, and Gonzales they will “follow the direction of the authorities” with staff members who don’t want to take the jabs.
“We are constantly monitoring the health of our employees to ensure a safer experience for both our team and our guests. Our employees have now been taking a weekly PCR test in case they have decided not to be vaccinated,” said founder and CEO of 7Management Rabih Fakhreddine, which operates venues such as SevenSisters and AntikaBar in DIFC.
For several F&B operators, ensuring the safety of their employees and customers is as far as their role in vaccination goes with Fakhreddine saying that: “As food and beverage operators who cater to the mass, we respectfully leave vaccination as a personal choice for our guests,” he continued.
This comes in as several of Dubai’s restaurants and hotels are showing their support for the UAE’s vaccination campaign by offering discounts for vaccinated residents.
Restaurants and hotels constitutes the majority of such businesses but spas and ride-sharing apps are also encouraging people to get vaccinated through such inventive schemes.
“We would like to show our support to the government of UAE, particularly Dubai Health Authority who is working tirelessly to get all UAE residents vaccinated and safe. We hope this move will incentivise people who are making the decision to get vaccinated and show our support for those who have taken the jab,” said Ziad Sleiman, hotel manager of Bab Al Shams Desert Resort. The hotel is offering a flat 25 percent off on all dining venues and hotel bookings made for vaccinated UAE residents.
“It is our way of encouraging the government’s campaign. We all hope that coronavirus will be behind us and that life will return to normal and so having more people getting vaccinated is, of course, favourable,” said a spokesperson for Reform Social and Grill in the Lakes. The restaurant is offering a 10 percent discount to residents who’ve had their first Covid 19 vaccine jab and a 20 percent discount on the second.
Ride sharing app Uber is also incentivising coronavirus vaccinations by offering 25 percent off two rides of up to AED20 each, provided that riders are going to get vaccinated.
Rifad Mahasneh, Uber general manager in the UAE, said: “Since the onset of the pandemic, we’ve been looking at how we can support our communities, prioritise their health and safety, and ultimately keep cities moving at a time when mobility has been severely impacted. The vaccination drive is part of the effort to leverage our technology to positively impact communities and support the government’s successful efforts in protecting the population against the virus.”
The number of vaccinated people in the UAE has crossed three million. The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority reporting on Saturday that 107,561 doses of the coronavirus vaccine were given in the last 24 hours, to reach 3,114,162 as a total number of doses and with a rate of 31.49 doses per 100 people as vaccine distribution.
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