Holiday bookings surge as UAE residents get ready for long Eid

9 years ago | Posted in: Religion | 728 Views

Dubai: Travel and hotel bookings have surged on expectations that UAE residents will have a long weekend later this month, sources told Gulf News.

With a five-day long break likely to begin in the fourth week of September on account of Arafat or Hajj Day and Eid Al Adha, tour operators and hotels in the UAE have been receiving a number of queries and reservation requests.

Arafat Day is expected to fall on September 22 (Tuesday) and Eid Al Adha will likely be on September 23 and 24 (Wednesday and Thursday). If the succeeding weekend is included, private sector employees are expected to have five consecutive days of vacation.

According to Premjit Bangara, general manager for travel at Sharaf Travel Services, many expatriates, particularly Asians and Europeans, are busy making travel plans and getting ready to pack their bags to explore destinations abroad.

UAE-based hotels are also noticing a surge in queries and booking requests both from UAE residents and GCC nationals. Local occupancy rates are expected to go up during the long weekend as huge numbers are also choosing to stay in the region for the holidays.

“We have noticed a definite increase in queries which are slowly being converted to firm bookings from UAE residents anticipating the long Eid break and hence are taking advantage of this to explore other countries,” Bangara told Gulf News.

“We are seeing the usual mix of nationalities [securing bookings] with Asian and European expats topping the list followed by UAE nationals, Lebanese, Syrians, Egyptians, Jordanians and also a small number of US and South American expats, too.”

Indians and Filipinos top the list of UAE residents looking for Eid getaways, according to Bangara. “The most popular destinations booked with us are Thailand, Georgia, Italy, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and Salalah in Oman.”

Tilal Liwa Hotel in Abu Dhabi is expecting a “full house” during the fourth week of September. “[We are getting most of the booking requests from a] mix of nationalities from within the UAE – Indians, Filipinos, Europeans, Arab nationals and UAE nationals,” Khaled Sharabassy, the hotel’s general manager, told gulfnews… see more

source: gulfnews

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