Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 54/w43

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 43, Edition 54

So here is this week’s digest of the ‘Dubai news worth knowing’, all in 10 minutes or less of your time.

👇 A few things worth knowing about Dubai this week 👇

💸 Entertainer 2025 available now.

🚶‍♀️ Alserkal Avenue's Food Crawl with Nada.

🛂 Additional VOA Exemption for Indians?

🛞 Emirates Sky Wheels.

🧨 Time Out Market.

🛩️ Dubai Airport to go passport-free?

💰 10% Emirates Holidays discount.

🗞 Tittle-tattle: distracted driving bans, Fogueira, JBR Winter Nights, jazz spots in Dubai.

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Thanks for reading 👏

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ENTERTAINER

Entertainer 2025 Now Available

Entertainer have released Entertainer 2025, and it’s available with a few incentives.

One is to ‘Double your Offers’ on Entertainer Dubai or Abu Dhabi for an extra 100 AED (i.e. ‘go XL’).

Entertainer 2024 appears not to directly available anymore, but rather as a ‘free’ inclusion if 2025 is purchased.

The discount promo code has now expired, so the only purchase option is the full price:-

• Entertainer Dubai is 595 AED.

• Entertainer GCC is 795 AED.

• Entertainer Abu Dhabi is 495 AED.

• Entertainer Saudi is 275 SAR.

• Entertainer Qatar is 295 QAR.

• Entertainer Oman is 19.50 OMR.

• Entertainer Bahrain is 27.50 BHD.

• Entertainer Kuwait is 19.50 KWD.

• Entertainer Singapore is 85 SGD.

Analysis

Entertainer Abu Dhabi this year is cheaper than Dubai, by 100 AED.

Entertainer GCC offers Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait for an extra 200 AED than Entertainer Dubai. If you’re looking to visit Abu Dhabi as well as Dubai, GCC for an extra 200 AED offers a cost saving of 295 AED. Buying Dubai and Abu Dhabi separately would cost 595 AED + 495 AED, or 1090 AED.

The app has also had another overhaul, which I hope to play around with in the coming weeks and perhaps post some tips here in future editions.

Comment

If past years are anything to go by, Entertainer may run for a few months after launch before promo or discount codes are released. So if you need to use it before say, end of January 2025, there’s no alternative to ponying up full price.

Whilst Entertainer GCC always offers the most redemption opportunities, IF there are products in Abu Dhabi as well as Dubai that you fancy, the cost saving in purchasing Entertainer GCC makes sense rather than buying both products (i.e. Dubai and Abu Dhabi) separately.

🔗 Entertainer Dubai 2025

🔗 Entertainer GCC 2025

KNOW MORE ABOUT DUBAI

Alserkal Avenue: What the Food, a ‘Food Walk’ With Nada

I often like to flag up interesting places in Dubai, as well as promote good people doing great things, so it’s a ‘two for one’ to be able to feature Alserkal Avenue and the awesome Nada Badran from Wander with Nada.

Alserkal Avenue is an arts and community hub in Al Quoz that always has something cool going on. It’s not just art though, but rather more about the community behind the art, and this weekend they have a ‘What the Food’ event based around a ‘Food Crawl’ with Nada.

I have to be honest - I can’t confess to ‘getting’ art, but that’s what makes Alserkal Avenue great. It doesn’t matter that I don’t get it, as they make art and culture interesting and accessible enough for anyone to enjoy. On top of that, there’s always a lovely bunch of folk knocking around and a thriving community.

If you’re not aware who Nada is, do check out her website and walking tours of Dubai - she’s one of only two local tour companies I wholeheartedly recommend (if that stands for anything that is).

Nada’s a great person to learn all about UAE, local culture and much more with, so do give her a follow if you can’t make this event, as she’s always up to something interesting amongst all her other local celebrity and media commitments.

🔗 Alserkal Avenue

🔗 Wander with Nada

Addition to Visa on Arrival (VOA) Exemptions for Indian Nationals?

UAE apparently announces amendment to Visa on Arrival (VOA) exemptions for Indian nationals.

Comment

Again, this is an announcement via third parties rather than official sources, and the U.ae official portal has not yet been updated to reflect this revision.

EMIRATES

Emirates Sky Wheels

Ever needed to move your supercar by air?

Nah, me neither - but it’s cool that Emirates has a service for this called Emirates Sky Wheels, to safely airfreight your precious four-wheeled cargo.

🔗 Emirates Sky Wheels

Emirates ranked ‘world’s best airline’ by Telegraph Travel.

EAT

Time Out Market: New Year

If you’re ever around Dubai Mall or Downtown, do take time to check out Time Out Market above Souk al Bahar (on Level 3). It’s a great ‘pop up’ concept to display smaller, food-courty type takes from local restaurants and chefs.

It’s a decent spot to peep out at the fountains, grab something nice to eat or a cheeky drink or two, without breaking the bank.

Not that I would recommend trying to spend NYE Downtown, but they’ve announced details of their New Years Eve party, themed around The Great Gatsby, if you must.

🔗 Time Out Market Dubai

🔗 The Great Gatsby NYE 2025

Why Street XO, the “world’s most bonkers restaurant”, may be right on trend.

🔗 Street XO

LOYALTY PROGRAMS

10% Emirates Holidays Discount via U by Emaar

Emaar’s loyalty program, U by Emaar, have launched an offer to enable 10% discount on Emirates Holidays outbound services, including flight tickets, accommodation, transfers, tours and excursions, car hire, cruises, and safaris.

Available until December 2025.

🔗 Emirates Holidays U by Emaar Offer

DUBAI NEWS/TITTLE-TATTLE

• 30 day vehicle impounding for distracted driving, inc mobile phone use.

• Dubai unveils $106 million Rural Tourism Masterplan.

• RTA announces resumption of Business Bay and Water Canal marine transport services (think 2 AED boat rides!).

• MMI’s grape tasting festival is back.

• Six great spots to enjoy Jazz in Dubai.

• Fogueira to host Four Hands Dinner from 31 Oct - 02 Nov.

• Three new party brunches in Dubai (inc one by Secret Parties - always recommended!).

• JBR Winter Nights are back - movies, workshops, roaming entertainment and more.

• La Cantine Beach and Gohan to open at Delano Dubai.