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Flights from the UAE to many destinations are sold out ahead of the Eid Al Fitr holidays.
Travel agents say the busiest travel during Islamic festivals is outbound traffic to Muslim countries, as residents go back to their home countries to celebrate Eid. But this year, a lot of people are travelling to the UAE to experience Eid due to pleasant weather.
Avinash Adnani, managing director of Pluto Travels, said destinations such as Egypt, Pakistan and Kerala in India are mostly sold out on the eve of Eid Al Fitr, as a large number of UAE residents come from these Muslim regions and they travel to their home countries to celebrate the festival with their families.
Starting Thursday, the UAE residents will likely have either a four or five-day Eid Al Fitr break, depending on the moon sighting.
Adnani added that people expecting five-day breaks tend to fly out to short-haul destinations for a break as both inbound and outbound revenge tourism is going strong.
“This is the reason that Emirates has increased flights to Muslim countries in the GCC and Middle East for Eid Al Fitr,” he said.
Dubai's flagship carrier Emirates on Tuesday announced 38 additional flights during the Eid Al Fitr to different destinations across the region including Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Medina, Kuwait and Beirut. It expects more than 110,000 passengers to board Emirates flights during the upcoming Eid across the region.
Adnani added that instead of London and other long-haul flights, people prefer East European destinations that are in a three-hour flight range during Eid festivals. Therefore, local budget carriers increase frequencies to these destinations to accommodate the rush.
Atish Thapa, head of business and marketing, Cleartrip, said there is a definite increase in inbound travel as Ramadan and Eid are coming at a decent weather time.
“Clubbing this with a long weekend, we are seeing some inbound traffic increasing from India to the UAE. Fortunately, there has not been an excessive increase in airfares for passengers coming to the UAE as compared to airfare increase for outbound travel,” he said.
He said the leisure travel to destinations within 3-5 hours is picking up, including Turkey after the earthquake.
“Caucus and GCC countries, especially Saudi Arabia, are quite popular. In fact, Saudi has outperformed some destinations because visa regulations have been eased as the visa can be obtained in just a few hours,” said Thapa.
Daryll Diagro, marketing manager, Leva Hotels, the favourable weather, number of tourist attractions and relaxed travel restriction makes Dubai one of the most sought-after locations for visitors from GCC countries.
“We are receiving bookings and anticipating more occupancy during Eid from neighbouring countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. While staycations were a preferred choice for the residents of UAE for the past 3 years, we are witnessing a change in trend this year. As countries abroad are now open to travel, residents of UAE are opting to travel to international destinations over local staycations. People are choosing to travel to nearby locations such as Georgia, and Armenia for the long weekend,” said Diagro.
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