UAE | Tourism
Many expats throw travel plans out the window
Gulf News found many residents have no intention of travelling abroad during the holidays despite the fact many travel agents have enjoyed a busy spell over the last few weeks.
- Staff Report
- Published: 23:25 December 2, 2008
- I think the economic crisis has had an effect on people's travel plans this year, says Blake Pickering, a 31-year-old copywriter from South Africa.
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Dubai: Gulf News found many residents have no intention of travelling abroad during the holidays despite the fact many travel agents have enjoyed a busy spell over the last few weeks.
Blake Pickering, a 31-year-old copywriter from South Africa, is staying in the UAE over the Eid holidays because his wife is expecting a baby in a fortnight.
He said: "I think the economic crisis has had an effect on people's travel plans this year, especially as there has been a wave of redundancies across Dubai over the last few weeks. "People are nervous and tightening their budgets... A lot of my friends are staying put in Dubai during Eid while a few others are travelling around the UAE to places like Hatta. There is a lot to see and do right on our doorstep."
Rick Houghton, a 35-year-old engineer from the UK, says there is a good chance he will be working throughout the Eid holidays. "It will just be business as usual for me. I'll probably go out and meet up with friends but there's a good chance I'll be at work. "I was thinking about heading back to the United Kingdom for a few days but the airlines always hike their prices at this time of year. It was going to cost me about Dh5,000 just to go home for a few days and I decided it really wasn't worth it."
Sharon Kelly, a 48-year-old housewife from Ireland, has just returned from a holiday in the Maldives with her husband.
"We usually travel abroad outside of the school or Eid holidays because it's cheaper...
"I think a lot of people will be rethinking their plans this year."
High prices of airline tickets at this time of the year and biting global crisis cited as reasons
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