UAE National Day holiday: the top 5 places to go for a long weekend have been revealed
As families race to book last-minute holidays, the cost of both flights and staycations has increased.
Authorities in the UAE gave citizens an unexpected National Day present when they extended the weekend to three days and declared an additional public holiday. To commemorate the national holiday, workers in the public and private sectors will be off on December 2, 3, and 4 (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday).
As families scramble to book last-minute holidays, airfares and staycation rates have skyrocketed. Industry insiders claim that for the long weekend, airfares to well-liked locations have increased by about 300 percent.
The most well-liked vacation destinations have recently been made public by a travel services company based in Dubai. The top five foreign locations that travelers from the UAE book most frequently, per dnata Travel, are:
With 15% of all reservations made for the National Day weekend going to Thailand, it is the most popular destination.
With 50% more reservations made during this time of year in 2023 than during the same period in 2022, Azerbaijan is a new addition. Travelers from the UAE are increasingly choosing Baku, the capital, for a closer-to-home city vacation. The agency stated that reservations to the UK, Switzerland, France, India, and the Seychelles are also in demand.
Eighty percent of all reservations, according to the business, are for overseas travel. The majority of staycations are being reserved in Dubai, with Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah following closely behind.
"Travellers are exploring more of the world, including lesser-known places and new locations across popular hotspots," stated Meerah Ketait, Director of Retail and Leisure UAE at dnata Travel. Apart from the consistently well-liked locations of Thailand and the Maldives, there has been a noticeable surge in travel to Azerbaijan specifically.