JEDDAH, 9 June — With schools closed for summer following the annual examinations on Wednesday, citizens and residents are busy planning vacations, in-Kingdom or overseas.
Most of the Western, South Asian and Far Eastern consulates have reported a huge rush of visa-seekers. “More than 100 people have been queuing up at the visa counters daily in the past few days,” an official at the French Consulate General said. This was echoed by officials at the US and British consulates as well.
“It’s been a difficult job for me (because I wanted) to get my visa stamped at one consulate and rush to another,” said Abdul Gazzawi, a local student who is planning to study English at a London institute after taking a brief vacation in France.
Aside from the consulates, travel agencies and airline offices are flooded with inquiries by people wanting to go on overseas jaunts or to travel to other parts of the Kingdom.
Some airlines and travel agents are reportedly offering discounts to make air travel “much more affordable” during the season. “Yes, there has been a heavy rush of bookings for various destinations,” an executive at Kanoo Travel said.
Favorite destinations seem to be as varied and colorful as the diversity of cultures that comprise the country’s resident population.
A marketing consulting firm, IPK International, said in its latest study that international trips from the Kingdom amounted to 4.8 million last year. And residents in the Gulf Cooperation Council states spent a staggering $27 billion on 8.8 million trips abroad during the year.
The study also shows that 3.2 million Gulf travelers visited other Middle East countries, 2.2 million traveled to South Asia, 1.2 million to Egypt and North Africa, one million to Europe, 0.9 million to South East Asia and 0.2 million to the Americas. Interestingly, shopping was the top priority for 60 percent of travelers taking city breaks.
“Orlando continues to remain the most popular destination for local vacationers, especially families.” This was the most common remark from travel agents like Attar, Kanoo and Alzouman.
“They don’t travel to the US direct. They take small vacations in Europe, either London, Paris, Geneva or any other city before proceeding to Orlando,” an official at Attar Travels said.
An official from Alzouman agreed, but added that Middle Eastern countries, South Asia, Egypt and North Africa are also attracting vacationers from this part of the world.
As Jeddah awaits the arrival of visitors from other parts of the Kingdom or the Middle East-Gulf region, the hospitality industry, especially hotels and apartment owners are keeping their fingers crossed.
“There have been a good number of inquiries for rooms and suites, but the real picture will emerge after a few days when visitors start coming in. We hope to have a better room occupancy rate,” an executive at the Jeddah Marriott said.
