Holiday bookings for Turkey and Egypt up

Dubai: Tour bookings for Turkey and Egypt are higher this Eid season as the recent war in Lebanon has affected holiday travel from the UAE to Beirut.

"Lebanon used to be the most popular destination for short breaks but people are a little worried now. This year more people are going to Turkey and Egypt," said Hussain Teh-rani, general manager of Al Rais Travel.

Many people have done holiday bookings for Lebanon, but they have also booked a second destination in case trouble erupts again, tour operators said.

To recover from the effects of war, hotels in Lebanon are offering low room rates and some airlines have entered joint promotions with Beirut hotels.

Travel companies said business this year is higher than the last Eid season despite air travel becoming costlier due to rising fuel surcharge.

Tehrani said holiday booking are already 30 per cent higher than 2005.

Besides Turkey and Egypt, other regional destination like Jordan, Iran, Cyprus and Greece are also seeing increased bookings.

Middle Eastern destinations are in demand because people like to be in countries where they can also celebrate Eid.

Nick Wood, general manager of Etihad Holidays, said Egypt was one of his top selling destinations.

"The demand for trips to Egypt is very strong. Eid packages have been heavily booked over the last one or two weeks," he said.

However, some East Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore are stepping up campaigns to target more Muslim travellers for Eid packages.

Hari Raya, as the Eid festival is known in Singapore and Malaysia, is an important festival in Singapore, where around 15 per cent of the population is Muslim, said Ke-Wei Peh, area director the Singapore Tourism Board.