Qatari tourists have been expanding their holiday horizons to Europe and Asia. Above, a plane owned by Qatar Airways flies over England. [Luke MacGregor/Reuters]![Qatari tourists have been expanding their holiday horizons to Europe and Asia. Above, a plane owned by Qatar Airways flies over England. [Luke MacGregor/Reuters]](http://al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2012/08/21/qatar-tourist-destinations-700_496.jpg?1345563243)
Qatari tourists consider alternative destinations
Qatari tourists on holiday are opting for different destinations these days, as the recent political events across the Arab world forced travellers to reconsider their traditional vacation hotspots.
Egypt, Syria and Lebanon once topped the list of preferred travel destinations for Qataris, but with the arrival of the Arab Spring many tourists are now visiting countries in Asia and Europe.
Samer al-Asha, director of a travel agency in Qatar, said Turkey, Malaysia and Thailand are taking the lead in holiday reservations made by Qataris.
“Lebanon is absent from the list of tourist destinations for Qataris due to the security developments taking place and [because of] calls from the Qatari government to avoid travelling there,” al-Asha said, adding that “most of those who did make reservations to go to Lebanon for the summer holiday are Lebanese nationals living in Qatar.”
“For the second year in a row, Syria has [also] been absent from the vacation map due to the current events there, while bookings for Egypt are still modest despite noticeable improvements in the situation there,” al-Asha told Al-Shorfa.
He said other tourist destinations, such as Tunisia, have not yet drawn significant numbers of Qatari tourists.
Qataris are not neglecting all of North Africa, as Morocco has become a new destination for tourists, according to Saeed al-Hajeri, the director of another travel agency in Doha.
“We have seen the number of bookings to Morocco go up by 53% compared to last year,” al-Hajeri said. “Qataris are now looking at Morocco as an ideal destination to spend their summer and Eid vacations despite the long distance.”
He told Al-Shorfa that Turkey is another favourable travel destination for Qataris, as his company registered a high increase in bookings to Istanbul compared to last year, reaching an 82% increase during the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
Al-Hajeri said Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE also recorded noticeable increases in the number of Qataris vacationing there.
“There are lots of attractive, cultural and family-oriented activities in the UAE, making it a preferable destination for many Qatari families,” he said.
At a travel agency in Doha, Qatari tourist Watfa al-Ajami spoke to Al-Shorfa about her holiday customs as she waited to receive her plane tickets to Germany.
“For almost 10 years, I have been spending my summer holidays in Lebanon and I own an apartment there, but the situation today has become complicated and dangerous and the local authorities warned us against travelling there so I had to change my travel plans this year and head to Germany instead,” she said.
“I hope that by next year I can go to Lebanon again, as it is my favourite destination during summer,” she said.
GOVERNMENT OFFERS DOMESTIC ALTERNATIVES
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Tourism Authority has prepared a busy schedule for the Eid and summer vacations in an attempt to provide alternatives for Qataris who opt to stay home this year.
Authority member Mohammed al-Badr told Al-Shorfa that, through dozens of activities, the Authority seeks to make Doha an alternative to travelling to countries that might not be safe.
“We signed contracts with several world-renowned circuses and secured a large area to set up a circus tent in central Doha,” he said. “We have also worked with the Cultural Village to attract a large number of international music bands as well as other acts, not to mention evening music concerts at Souq Waqif on an almost daily basis.”
Al-Badr said these activities will not only provide entertainment for Qataris who stay home this summer season, but will also draw Saudi tourists and citizens from other Arabian Gulf countries to Doha.
Local Qatari newspapers estimated that as many as 20,000 Saudi and Arab nationals entered Qatar by land in the last days of Ramadan to spend Eid al-Fitr there, with officials projecting that this number will climb even higher after the holiday celebrations.
