23 February 2011

The unusual group belonged to the “Deaf World Travel Group”, who had come to Dubai to take advantage of this year’s Dubai Shopping Festival. They started their journey in the UK and travelled to Dubai on the luxury cruise liner the Brilliance of the Seas. Most of them are between fifty and eighty years old.

Joliet, one of the members of the group, said that she wanted to visit a special location to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the group. She chose Dubai because she wanted to attend the shopping festival and because Dubai has amazing beaches and now also boasted the tallest building in the world. The conversation took place in sign language making use of a translator.

Joliet went on to say that despite the fact that she is deaf and can only communicate through sign language, she was very comfortable with the fact that the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) provided them with specially trained tour guides and interpreters.

"The street decorations and lighting, the carnivals and the colours were more than enough - even for the disabled - to feel the joy and the entertainment value [of] the DSF," Joliet said.

Now into its 16th year, the DSF focussed on special needs tourists this year, as part of their ‘One World, One Family’ theme. The Deaf World Travel Group said that facilities in Dubai compared favourably with those in the West and they never experienced any awkward situations.

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