Effective immediately…

A circular issued by the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi (DCT — Abu Dhabi), addressed to “Hotel and Tourism Establishments General Managers, Event Organisers and Venues Owners, Museums, Cultural and Leisure Venues”, has confirmed that tourists entering Abu Dhabi from temporarily docked cruise ships will no longer need to show an Green Pass Alhosn green pass in order to enter “tourism attractions and establishments” in the emirate.

To gain access to these locations, they’ll simply need to show the cruise cards or wristbands.

Changes to the Green Pass

The updates to the UAE’s policy on wearing masks inside were the biggest headline grabbers from the recent NCEMA announcement on pandemic safety policy, but there were also some huge concessions made to the Alhosn Green Pass — most importantly, that fully vaccinated individuals can get a 30 day Green Pass off the back of a negative PCR, whereas those who are partially or unvaccinated can now get a pass for seven days.

Cruises were one of the first forms of tourism to be restricted from Abu Dhabi during the pandemic. They were also one of the first, with strict policies on ensuring public safety, channels of mass transit tourism to be reintroduced. Based on this, it is possible to see the cruise industry in Abu Dhabi as something of an indicator of overall policy change, or at least a good test of which way the prevailing administrational winds are blowing.

Could we soon be seeing an end to the Green Pass system for the rest of us?

Only time will tell. With the number of events coming up in Q4 of 2022 and Q1 of 2023, the recent easing of restrictions, and a continued commitment to bringing tourists back to Abu Dhabi, the trajectory of policy change certainly appears to be working towards a comprehensive rolling back of all measures. The one thing that we can be certain of, is that changes will only be made when it is completely safe to do so.

Images: Provided