“Under the current situation no one can drive around in Manama,” he told Arab News by phone. “I hope that the city will cool down and return to normalcy soon. I cannot imagine a situation in which I am forced to remain in Alkhobar without being able to visit Manama.”
Manama’s central square has been the focal point of demonstrations that have rocked Bahrain since Feb. 14.
According to sources in Al-Kabisi Travels in Bahrain, traffic across the causeway has declined by at least half.
Under normal circumstances, about 46,000 Saudis travel to Bahrain every day on weekends and at least 800,000 go during the mid-semester school break, which ended recently.
In 2010, over 17 million Saudis crossed the causeway, a 1.3-million increase from the previous year.
“The hotel occupancy rate fell drastically over the past week because of the unrest,” said Hamed Al-Kabisi, director of the travel agency.
Abdullah Al-Sulaimani, another Saudi who lives in Alkhobar, said he had no choice but to cancel his weekend trips to Bahrain out of safety concerns.
He said he set out to Bahrain two days ago, but a friend called him and told him the situation was getting worse, so he turned around and went home.
