The total volume of local and international travel bookings for the Eid al-Fitr break have surged up by 195 percent so far for 2022 over the same holiday period in 2021, dnata Travel, a UAE-based travel provider, said Wednesday.
The firm found that UAE travellers are also seeking to travel internationally at significantly higher levels than they did last year, with 65 percent opting for worldwide destinations and 35 percent opting for staycations. These figures are nearly a reverse of trends seen in 2021, when 32 percent sought international holidays and 68 percent booked staycations.
“In 2021, UAE staycations and the Indian Ocean proved most popular for travellers from the UAE looking to take a well-deserved break over Eid al-Fitr. While these destinations remain ever-popular for travellers, this year, with more destinations opening we are seeing a broader range of travel options starting to trend, across Asia, Europe, and North America,” Emily Jenkins, General Manager, dnata Travel Leisure said.
So far, the five-most booked destinations over the holiday period with dnata Travel in the UAE are the Maldives, UAE, Turkey, Mauritius, and Oman. Travel and tourism have been recovering following a significant downturn caused by Covid-19, with lockdowns keeping most prospective tourists at home.
“The demand for travel is at a high as many countries are opening their borders to tourists once again, or relaxing, or removing Covid-19 related travel regulations, easing a passenger’s journey. Newly opened and accessible, Bali and Singapore in particular are starting to gain traction, while Thailand is fast-climbing among our top ten most-booked destinations for Eid al-Fitr. The Maldives has remained the number one destination of choice with a spike in demand witnessed in early March due to removing its PCR-testing requirements for fully-vaccinated travellers,” Jenkins commented.
Last week, the UAE Cabinet approved a week-long Eid al-Fitr holiday for all federal government entities operating across the country, with holidays for the public sector starting from Saturday, 30 April through Friday, 6 May, 2022. In the private sector, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation announced that the period from 29th Ramadan through 3rd Shawwal 1443 will be a paid Eid holiday for all private sector workers. Those dates are anticipated to translate to the period between Saturday, April 30 and Wednesday, May 4.
Schools, meanwhile, are set for a long break, with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) announcing Tuesday that schools would be closed for the entire week starting Monday, 2 May to Friday, 6 May.
Follow us on
