Swimming pools in Abu Dhabi begin to reopen

Swimming pools in Abu Dhabi are now able to reopen after several months of closures, with some hotels and clubs opening their pools first thing on Friday morning.

The Club Abu Dhabi reopened its pool on Friday and has sent members an email regarding safety measures, while Jumeirah Saadiyat Island announced that both its adult and family lagoon pools would be operational from 9am.

The pool at Anantara Eastern Mangroves is now also open, from 8am to 7pm. At that hotel, loungers will have signs saying 'ready' or 'not ready', and only those that have been disinfected will be deemed ready.

The hotel is not offering pool day deals yet, but has staycation offers from Dh450 per night and told The National it plans to launch more deals now the pool has reopened.

Aloft Abu Dhabi has also reopened its pools, as has the Ritz Carlton, Grand Canal. The latter celebrated the news with this video:

The National has contacted many hotels and clubs across the capital to find out which other pools will be operational this weekend.

While it's best to check ahead for each hotel's safety precautions, the hotels will be following guidelines set out by The Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCT).

General guidelines include employees being tested for Covid before returning to work and then being tested regularly, guests bringing their own towels, and sun beds and loungers being placed two metres apart.

Hotels in Abu Dhabi are busier than last year

Earlier this week, DCT released statistics that showed hotels in the UAE capital are busier this July than they were in the same month last year, with bookings up 3 per cent year on year.

Cases of the coronavirus have dropped to less than 1 per cent per capita in Abu Dhabi City. DCT says this is because of strict measures and increased testing. This seems to have spurred confidence to book hotel stays, but many Abu Dhabi residents were holding off on booking staycations until pools reopened, so they may see a further bump in bookings now.

More than 80 per cent of hotels in the emirate have enrolled in the Go Safe certification programme. To become certified, hotels must introduce several measures including enhanced disinfection of surfaces, new social distancing policies, temperature scans and compulsory face masks for staff and guests.

W Hotel Abu Dhabi – Yas Island was among the first venues to obtain the certification. The hotel closed in March due to Covid-19 restrictions, but reopened for Yas Island's UFC event (which will have certainly boosted hotel occupancy rates). It will reopen to guests on Thursday, July 30.

Authorities in Abu Dhabi are supporting the tourism industry via a variety of government schemes, including up to 20 per cent rental rebates for restaurants, tourism and entertainment facilities. Tourism and municipality fees have also been scrapped for some outlets.

UAE currency

if you go

The flights

Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.

When to visit

March-May and September-November

Visas

Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.

Key changes

Commission caps

For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:

• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).

• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).

• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.

• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.

• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.

Disclosure

Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.

“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”

Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.

Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.

“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.

Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.

Swimming pools in Abu Dhabi begin to reopen

A cool dip in a pool is now on the cards in the capital

Hotels in Abu Dhabi are busier than last year

UAE currency

if you go

Key changes

Key Points

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