With long weekends and holidays approaching, people tend to take their much-awaited break; to a new city, a new country, or even to their home country in the case of expatriates. However, some UAE residents may choose to shorten their stay or skip the trip all together during these long holidays. Yes, they are now looking to explore new destinations as budget airlines continue to expand, as revealed in a report by Khaleej Times.
UAE residents are shortening visits to their home country
Photo credit: Pexels
This summer vacation, many UAE residents have opted to forego travel to their home countries and explore new destinations. As revealed in the report, the main reason for this is due to the addition of new long-haul destinations. Previously, these destinations were out of reach, but with low-cost airlines adding several long-haul routes to their ever-expanding networks, people now have more opportunities to explore new cities.
For example, Air Arabia is a Sharjah-based airline that recently announced it will launch flights to Vienna, Austria. That’s right, when the service launches later this year, you’ll be able to buy a one-way ticket to Vienna for just AED399. In fact, the airline also offers service to cities like Athens, Krakow, and Phuket. Not only Air Arabia, but Wizz Air also offers an ever-expanding network of destinations for people to use.
Also read: AlUla becomes first Middle East destination to receive Destination International certification
Other destinations are coming soon
Photo credit: Canva
So people are planning to travel to their home countries by the end of June and come back early so that they can explore other destinations during their summer vacations, which end in August! The reason is also that airfares to their home countries are skyrocketing. As a result, people prefer to come back early, especially this year as airfares are very cheap up until August 10th.
In fact, the same report mentions that the main demographic of travellers in this category are middle-class families. Previously, they would limit themselves to trips to their home countries, but now they are questioning whether they should spend AED 2000-2200 on these visits. As a result, they are now using the same budget to explore new popular tourist destinations that were previously out of their reach due to financial constraints.
How about you? Where did you go on holiday this summer?
Cover image courtesy of Canva
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