JEDDAH, 25 January 2005 — Holiday trends appear to have changed this year. From the Corniche to the far corners of the world, many people are asking “where have the vacationers gone?”
Much of Asia is reeling from a “double whammy.” First it was the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and now it is the tsunami that seems to be keeping vacationers away from many of the Southeast and Far East countries.
Leading travel agencies say most of the bookings for Indonesia, Sri Lanka and parts of India were canceled once the tsunami hit them and took its toll.
“I think the Far East is jinxed so far as the travel trade is concerned,” a Garuda Indonesia airline executive said. “We were badly hit due to lower bookings as people avoided traveling to some of the Far Eastern countries including Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore during the yearlong period after the disease broke out. And now, it’s the tsunami that’s keeping the vacationers away.”
Sri Lanka has suffered the most during the current travel season. “The tsunami has devastated the Indian Ocean island state and left it without any semblance of a tourist season,” a Sri Lankan Airlines executive said.
During the current Haj season, many vacationers either have traveled to places within the Kingdom or to nearby Gulf and other Middle Eastern countries. “Our bookings show Saudi vacationers have mostly chosen Bahrain and Dubai as their destinations this time. Families have traveled to these and other destinations, like Beirut and Cairo,” an Attar Travel executive said.
Expats, who are not performing Haj, have either remained in the places of their residence, gone to meet family and friends across the Kingdom or taken a vacation back home.
“I’m in Riyadh visiting my close relatives, and I’ll also go to Dammam to renew contacts with friends before returning to Jeddah,” Sultan Mazhar, an Indian media executive, told Arab News by telephone. “Some expats have combined their annual vacations with the Haj holidays and have either gone home directly or via some popular destinations,” a Kanoo Travel supervisor said. “All of those who chose to travel during this part of the year have left, though some did change their itineraries due to the tsunami devastation.”
Even Jeddah is quieter than it’s been at this time in years past. The city roads and promenades remained deserted of Friday, because of the day being a weekly holiday and also part of the Eid holiday for many offices. Inquiries to many recreation centers along the Corniche revealed less business than had been expected, especially Thursday and Wednesday before, which was marked by the Eid celebration. “I wonder where all the families and children have gone?” an attendant at one of the recreation centers asked. “This is the time when we expect families and children to venture out and enjoy the rides, but we’ve all been disappointed. We hope to have some business in the next few days.”
