Aiming to provide a more personalised and culturally sensitive experience for travellers from diverse nationalities, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) has launched an innovative initiative called ‘For the World’.
The program involves hosting influential personalities from different countries to interact with immigration officers at the airport, land, and seaports, educating them on the customs, traditions, and preferences of their respective nationalities.
“We do not go off script, we go out of the ordinary,” stated Lieutenant General Mohammed Al Marri, Director General of GDRFA, in a press conference on Monday.
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“In the ‘For the world’ initiative, we will host a guest from a different country to interact with the employees of GDRFA, whether at airports, land, or seaports to explain to them their culture and assist the whole experience from their point of view,” explained Al Marri.
The carefully chosen persona from each country will observe and note what is appropriate and what is not appropriate for their culture. The initiative focuses on training employees to provide distinguished service to each traveller, tailored to their specific background and preferences.
“We were focusing on training the employee to provide an excellent service to the traveller. However, the service should also be appropriate for each traveller. The customs and traditions of people must be familiar to employees,” said Al Marri.
The initiative started with Japanese nationality, where the GDRFA hosted a personality named ‘Yani Takashi’ who wore a traditional kimono — a garment emblematic of Japanese culture. “It was an interesting and useful experience, not limited to a lecture, but practical experience on the ground at Dubai airport,” Al Marri noted.
“Because we may not know much about the Japanese community, we must learn it to encourage them to come and visit the UAE. This is respect and appreciation for the person in front of you.”
After the successful Japanese experience, the GDRFA will host a guest from Korea, who will also wear traditional Korean attire.
“Takashi motivated us more. He came to us one day, and he observed some things that might seem normal or even welcoming for us but he wouldn’t prefer.” The major general also explained that there would be five days between each nationality to focus on the outputs of each person from the country that was hosted.
The GDRFA also aims to teach employees words from each country, welcoming words and the most used words, “so that they feel as if they are in their own country”.