Case Study: Gulf News achieves safer, more accessible desert off-roading navigation with what3words

Safer desert off-roading with what3words and Gulf News’ Fun Drive

what3words partnered with Gulf News’ long-running Fun Drive to solve a common desert-navigation challenge: in a landscape where everything looks the same, traditional GPS coordinates are hard to communicate, easy to mistype, and impractical over the phone. With over 750 four-wheel-drive cars on a two-day off-roading event, organizers needed a simple, reliable way for participants to identify checkpoints and meeting points.

The event labeled all checkpoints with what3words addresses and gave every car an information pack listing those 3‑word locations. This made it easy for drivers to share precise spots, set meeting points, capture favorite locations and confirm they were driving to the correct checkpoint—reducing reliance on long coordinates and improving overall safety and accessibility.

Gulf News

Naheed Patel

Gulf News