In the West, all the chatter concerning Shisha and Hookah smoking seems to be almost all surrounding health issues. You can’t go a week without some news outlet telling us that if we even look at a hookah pipe we’re going to catch something.
But, the rest of the world (as opposed to us ‘free’ types), don’t seem to harbour such concerns.
For example, this week a new trade fair opened in Mumbai, called the “Dubai Festival in Mumbai“, which is hoping that the residents’ love of all things Dubai will bring them out to check out their wares.
And it seems to be working.
Strangely, the fair is selling shisha pipes, second hand cars and (don’t tell anyone), fake designer handbags.
Quite how people get away with that is anyone’s guess, but the tented village that has been set up is actually bringing in the crowds.
The organisers hope, “.. that they could help boost tourism to Dubai and trade between the UAE and India by offering an opportunity for small businesses to showcase their products and services.”
However, the fair is not officially sanctioned by the Dubai government, so it seems this is a private enterprise initiative. It’ll be interesting to see how it develops, and whether we’ll ever see a UK based hookah and shisha market!