Dubai Now
What to do in Dubai if you're visiting for Expo 2020
Tom Page, CNN • Updated 30th September 2021
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(CNN) — Delayed a year by the pandemic, Expo 2020 is finally upon us.
Opening on October 1 and running for six months, Dubai's World Expo is the first to be held in the Middle East. Since 1851, world expositions have been an opportunity for countries from all over the globe to showcase their latest innovations, and Dubai's will be no different. The event may not receive the number of visitors that organizers might have anticipated before the pandemic struck, but there'll be a tourism influx nonetheless.
Dubai has been preparing for the best part of a decade and has built accordingly, with new hotels, infrastructure and attractions augmenting all the goings on at the Expo site in the south of the city.
Before exploring, international travelers will need to clear health checks. At the time of writing, all passengers arriving in Dubai on tourist visas must still take a mandatory rapid PCR test on arrival and register their vaccination status on the government's health app (COVID-19 DXB app). There are specific protocols for travelers arriving from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia, as well as separate rules for travelers arriving from the UK.
Ahead of opening day, CNN Travel highlights the most enticing sights and intriguing attractions the emirate has to offer visitors arriving for Expo. Look through the gallery above to learn more.
