Tag Archives: safety

That was my setting at the moment. I am not in a rage, there is optional speaking nothing wrong done. But the list has a setting that makes me unease. I al referring to the BBC list of safe places given to me (at https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250822-five-of-the-worlds-safest-countries-for-2025) In this list Lindsey Galloway gives us 10 players running for the safest place in the world. The ten contenders are:

1. Iceland
2. Ireland
3. New Zealand 
4. Austria
5. Switzerland
6. Singapore
7. Portugal
8. Denmark
9. Slovenia
10. Finland

I don’t disagree, I don’t agree. It could be a valid list. In first Place there is Iceland. Very likely true and that list has three places I have seen and I felt perfectly safe in all of them, so I do not disagree with the list. My bewilderment is that the United Arab Nations are not there, both Dubai and Abu Dhabi are seen by a lot of people the safest places on earth. As such I personally see this list as a way to deter people to go to the UAE in 2025 and 2026. There is a personal setting that the top 25 should have been shown to give a more direct setting, but to give a top 10 and mention merely 5 of them is a way to play this game. And as I see it the BBC is playing a game. They are doing this in September? The year is pretty much over, that is when you consider to be UAE and Saudi Arabia out of bounds, as I see it we can haggle about how save Saudi Arabia is (I actually do not know this) but both these places have an absolute divine climate between October and April. As such I wonder why this list was produced. And with Singapore giving us 

“While Singapore’s conservative stance on LGBT+ protections limits some freedoms, with same-sex marriage still prohibited, social progress is visible through events like the growing Pink Dot pride festival. Many reported feeling safer at the rally this year than in past decades as younger Singaporeans push for more widespread acceptance.” I merely wonder why the UAE didn’t make the list. I am not saying this list is wrong, I merely wonder why this list is given and why it is given in this way?

If we have to be neutral in this setting then the other story linked in this list is:

Top 10 most liveable cities for 2025:

1. Copenhagen, Denmark
2. Vienna, Austria (tie)
2. Zurich, Switzerland (tie)
4. Melbourne, Australia
5. Geneva, Switzerland
6. Sydney, Australia
7. Osaka, Japan (tie)
7. Auckland, New Zealand (tie)
9. Adelaide, Australia
10. Vancouver, Canada

This list has a few debatable sides. The fact that Sydney scores better than Auckland, Adelaide or Vancouver is a rather large setting. Housing in Sydney is off the charts, whilst Vancouver and Auckland can give a much better setting, but that is me and I wonder here too why Abu Dhabi didn’t make the list. If affordability is depending on the price if housing (as it needs to be) Zurich could not be in a tied second place either. So why are these lists created and who is wondering what the BBC is up to. Is it catering to political powers and as such to the people who have money to make out of these publications?

It might sound like trivial small ‘bickering’ but in light of the massive opportunity that the UAE hands us all in tourism, this list does not make much sense. Don’t get me wrong. I do not oppose the list as it is made, I oppose the thoughts behind the lists (as I speculatively see it). If the list was a top 25 and merely a top 5 is discussed, I get that, but at present I wonder why this list was even created now (at the end of summer) and personally I have a hard time believing Slovenia made that top 10. Not when the UAE didn’t make that top 10, but that is a personal feeling. I have never been to Slovenia and as such I am not judging, merely wondering out loud.

Have a great day and a safe day.