Unrest in Arab countries is forcing Qatar tourists to change their summer holiday destinations to Dubai and to Europe with London, Paris, Berlin, Munich and Vienna topping the list, a travel agent has said. \"There has been an overall growth of around 50 per cent in tourist movement towards Europe this summer compared with the corresponding period last year,\" PN Sathya Narayanan, manager of Mannai Holidays, said. \"The Middle Eastern crisis has played its part in increasing tourist flow to Europe. There has been a sharp decline in tourist movement towards Jordan and Egypt, which are, otherwise, popular among Arabs,\" he said, quoted by Qatar Tribune daily. The decline in numbers is also due to the \"relatively short summer vacation this year as the Holy Month of Ramadan begins when summer vacation ends, unlike last year, when Eid holidays started in continuation of summer holidays.\" According to Narayanan, another noticeable trend this summer was the around 30 percent increase in Qataris\' movement towards Switzerland. \"However, Switzerland came after the UK, France, Germany and Austria in terms of popularity,\" he said. The Middle Eastern crisis had also diverted tourist flow towards Dubai, amid a noticeable gain in popularity thanks to the fall in hotel rates and to the packages offered by airlines and travel agents that include shopping, organising tours to the city\'s attractions and offering fun and sports opportunities, he said. In the Far East, popular destinations for Qataris are Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. \"Malaysia is an all-time favourite destination for Arabs because of its Islamic culture, traditions and food. Hong Kong is getting increasingly popular because of the recently opened Disneyland and Singapore is gaining more tourists thanks to its amusement park. The two countries also offer good shopping opportunities,\" he said. Narayanan said that Qataris were also travelling to the Mediterranean region for cruise holidays. He regretted a lack of initiative among travel agencies in Qatar to popularise new destinations. \"I feel Qataris are willing to try new destinations, but there is little attempt by travel agencies in Qatar to popularise new places. I feel Qataris would also love to travel to Belgium and Scandinavian countries but there is hardly any attempt to popularise them,\" he said.
GMT 13:50 2018 Monday ,22 January
Gulf Air launches Bahrain tourist visa serviceGMT 10:57 2017 Friday ,29 December
Transportation Ministry to impose firm sanction on Lion Air pilotGMT 10:54 2017 Friday ,29 December
US, Turkey put end to visa spatGMT 11:39 2017 Sunday ,17 December
Ryanair offers to meet Irish pilots ahead of strike dateGMT 05:52 2017 Saturday ,16 December
Israel strike to stop flights at Ben Gurion airportGMT 12:16 2017 Thursday ,14 December
TUI says new direction paying off despite profit slumpGMT 16:36 2017 Tuesday ,05 December
Gulf Air launches Bahrain Tourist Visa ServiceGMT 09:53 2017 Monday ,04 December
Gulf Air signs agreement with ThalesMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2023 ©