Captive tourists and hospidarity : caring obligations in Dubai’s tourism crisis

Abstract

Captivity denotes a condition in which freedom is constrained, and this experience can arise when tourists are unable to leave a destination during periods of armed conflict. In 2026, airspace restrictions across the Middle East immobilised Dubai, abruptly turning a hyper-mobile transit hub into a setting of enforced immobility. Tourists in the city lost agency as their roles shifted from visitor to captive, accompanied by distress. Drawing on the concepts of lockdown captivity, characterised by loss of the tourist role and felt entrapment, and hospidarity, understood as coordinated, continuous care that generates safe transitional spaces, we conceptualise this condition as war-lock-in. We further argue that this framework extends beyond the present case and can be applied to a wide range of disruptions such as extreme weather, infrastructural failures, and political unrest that similarly require destinations to reconfigure hospitality capacities into safe transitional spaces. © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.