There has been a surge in travel bookings for the Eid al Adha holiday from the UAE as global travel continues to recover and tourists take advantage of the long holiday, members of the sector say.
Travel demand during the last Eid holiday, at the end of Ramadan, was held back because of the fact that the holiday fell over a weekend and at the end of the summer holidays.
"We have seen a two-fold increase in the number of guests travelling this Eid al Adha as compared to the first Eid," said Rui Sequeira, the regional manager of commercial operations at Emirates Holidays.
"The average length of stay is between four and four nights," Mr Sequeira said. "However, since a lot of schools are closed for the entire week, we have noticed that guests are booking longer-duration stays.
"The most popular destinations are the Maldives, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey and Singapore. But we also received a lot of positive interest for travel to Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Cyprus, the UK, Egypt, Hong Kong and Jordan."
Emirates Holidays launched a number of offers for four nights for the price of three for the Eid break to destinations including Kenya, Cape Town and Bali.
Singapore's tourism board has reported strong demand from the UAE for Eid.
"Demand for travel to Singapore is very strong this year, with flights to Singapore running at full capacity," said Jason Ong, the area director for the Middle East and Africa at the Singapore Tourism Board.
"This is due to the improved economic climate as well as the many new attractions and activities in Singapore."
Among these recently-launched attractions is the Universal Studios theme park.
"Traffic looks set to be stronger for this Eid versus the earlier Eid due to the longer holiday breaks and, more importantly, the earlier Eid came hot on the heels of the summer holidays," said Mr Ong.
Thailand is another destination that is proving to be a popular choice for UAE travellers. The travel authority is trying to encourage UAE travellers to use the Eid break to head to Thailand for the Loy Krathong festival, or festival of light, which happens just after Eid.
"In general I think that for all the Eid holidays all countries will see an increase," said Zeid Malhas, the marketing manager Tourism Authority of Thailand's Middle East office in Dubai, adding that hotels in Thailand have launched promotions to attract travellers from the region during Eid.
The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) last week said that international tourist arrivals grew by 7 per cent in the first eight months of this compared to the same period last year.
The recovery in tourism expenditure is proving much slower, but numbers of people travelling are now above pre-crisis levels, the UNWTO said. Worldwide arrivals between January and August this year reached 642 million, about 1 million more than in the same period of the record year of 2008, the organisation said.
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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SPECS
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The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
Results
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Nadhra, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Dars, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Taghzel, Malin Holmberg, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: M’Y Yaromoon, Khalifa Al Neyadi, Jesus Rosales
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (PA) 1,400m; Winner: Hakeem, Jim Crowley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
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Key fixtures from January 5-7
Watford v Bristol City
Liverpool v Everton
Brighton v Crystal Palace
Bournemouth v AFC Fylde or Wigan
Coventry v Stoke City
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
Manchester United v Derby
Forest Green or Exeter v West Brom
Tottenham v AFC Wimbledon
Fleetwood or Hereford v Leicester City
Manchester City v Burnley
Shrewsbury v West Ham United
Wolves v Swansea City
Newcastle United v Luton Town
Fulham v Southampton
Norwich City v Chelsea
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
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