ALKHOBAR, 16 November 2004 — The Corniche was packed with picnickers and the rain held off long enough for Alkhobar municipality to launch their fireworks after Isha prayer last night.
Eid celebrations in the Eastern Province have been beset by problems due to the inclement weather. Tens of thousands have been turning up nightly on the seasides at Alkhobar and Dammam but some have thought the fireworks were less spectacular than usual, most likely due to the cloudy, damp weather. There has also been a significant and apparent security presence at all public events.
“We come out to the Corniche every year but this year I think it wasn’t worth the struggle,” said Jordanian Mariam Kutbi. “There were so many people that we had to park quite a distance away and after a long walk we couldn’t find anywhere to sit. Then the fireworks were over quickly and the children were disappointed. It really can’t compare to the fireworks in Dubai or the celebrations in Egypt.”
“I wish these Eid celebrations would be better organized,” her friend Ala Ergosus added. “We came here very early to beat the crowds and had to wait a long time for the fireworks to begin. There really aren’t any other activities either. In the United States they have fairs and concerts at holidays. Why can’t they have something like that here?”
This year is definitely much more crowded than the last in the Eastern Province. All four and five star hotels are reporting occupancy close to 100 percent. The largest hotels are also reporting strong demand for outside catering in addition to their restaurants and coffee shops being overwhelmed in the evening.
Prices of rest houses in the Eastern Province increased dramatically during the Eid Al-Fitr holiday as the rent for an hour reached record SR1,000 this season. Market analysts attributed the increase to the large influx of holidaymakers from outside the region, especially from the neighboring GCC states.
Many families encountered difficulty getting rest houses. Abdul Rahman Al-Mazeed said he had spent some 24 hours looking for a rest house. “My efforts went in vain and I had to spend the Eid in a desert camp,” he said, adding that most rest houses in Dammam were booked three weeks before the Eid.
Arab News toured a number of rest houses in Dammam and Alkhobar and discovered that the rent for five hours had gone up to between SR4,500 and SR5,000 apart from a caution deposit of SR10,000. Naif ibn Muhammad agreed that the charges were not affordable to limited income groups and urged authorities to control prices.
Mahmoud Aamir, manager of a rest house in Dammam, said investors in rest houses make substantial gains during the Eid holidays thanks to big demand. Some rest houses impose a caution deposit of SR15,000 in order encourage clients to check out on time and avoid damaging the furnishings.
One investor attributed the increase in prices to the use of rest houses for holding wedding ceremonies and the large influx of families wanting to enjoy the good weather and visit recreation facilities and shopping centers in the province.
For Muhammad Al-Qahtani, director of a rest house in Dammam, attributes the price hike to the lack of competition. The Eastern Region urgently needs more recreation facilities spread out through the area rather than the small number of tourist villages and parks confined to the coastal strips.
“The place is like a ghost town in the morning and then after the afternoon prayer everyone wakes up and wants to go out at the same time. It’s really terrible in all the malls in the evening. The Corniche is a no go zone. Restaurants are an acceptable option before 8 p.m. The best thing to do is to go out in the morning and then at night stay home, barbecue in the yard, watch a movie or play games with the kids,” said Adil Osman, an Egyptian engineer.
Some people mentioned that they have been watching the fireworks from their rooftops rather than going to the Corniche and plenty agreed with Osman that with the crowds and the cool, wet weather, staying indoors was the best option. Many families have been particularly disturbed by the young men who have traveled to the area from Riyadh and villages in the Eastern Province. Banned from “families only” amusement centers and parks, these young men have little to do except drive around harassing any women they encounter. “I don’t know where these shabab (youth) should go but I am afraid that if one more of them ogles me or says something nasty, my husband is going to do something crazy and then we’ll all be sorry,” said Om Obadah, a Saudi homemaker.
With recreation facilities lacking, those amusement centers and theme parks that are available have been inundated, raking in the profits from parents desperate to find something to do with their children.
Nearly 10,000 people visited Dolphin Village in Dammam on the first day of Eid Al-Fitr. Haidar Al-Tayyeb, manager of the park, said his organization was offering a variety of programs for families and children including a water train, folklore games, electronic characters, cultural contests, sports, etc.
“During Eid the park organized a number of shows like dwarf fights, lying on glass and nails and car pulls in addition to our dolphin and lion shows,” he said. “We repeat these programs five times daily to meet the demand of the growing number of visitors.”
— Additional input by P.K. Abdul Ghafour
