Long road ahead for fully self-driving cars, despite Tesla claim

Long road ahead for fully self-driving cars, despite Tesla claim

DUBAI: After a painful four-month tourism shutdown that ended this week, Dubai is betting pent-up demand will see the industry quickly bounce back, billing itself as a safe destination with the resources to ward off coronavirus.

The emirate, which had more than 16.7 million visitors last year, opened its doors to tourists despite global travel restrictions and the onset of the scorching Gulf summer in the hopes the sector will reboot before high season begins in the last quarter of 2020.

Embarking from Emirates flights, where cabin crew work in gowns and face shields, the first visitors arrived on Tuesday to be greeted by temperature checks and nasal swabs, in a city better known for skyscrapers, luxury resorts and over-the-top attractions.

Tourism chief Helal Al-Marri said that people may still be reluctant to travel right now, but that data shows they are already looking at destinations and preparing to come out of their shells.

"When you look at the indicators, and who is trying to buy travel, 10 weeks ago, six weeks ago and today look extremely different,“ he said in an interview.

"People were worried (but) people today are really searching heavily for their next holiday and that is a very positive sign and I