A number of travel agencies in Qatar are witnessing an increasing number of travel booking inquiries to Saudi Arabia, mainly for Haj and Umrah, after borders and airspace have reopened recently between the two countries.
Speaking to Gulf Times, Mannai Holidays (holiday arm of Mannai Air Travels) assistant manager Amila Samith said they have been receiving several calls daily from residents who maybe planning to perform Haj or Umrah in the near future.
Citing the recent developments in the region and if Covid-19 conditions further improves in the coming months, Samith expressed confidence that people will start making bookings to Saudi, as well as to other destinations.
He said Mannai is already in touch with their partners in Saudi Arabia to secure necessary permits to resume Haj/Umrah packages. An employee of another travel agency in Doha also said they have been receiving inquiries from both regular and new customers in the past few days.
“It is picking up, we expect to get more calls in the coming weeks or months as conditions further improve, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic, because that is one of the main concerns right now,” he said.
He pointed out that Haj remains to be main reason for Muslim citizens and residents in Qatar visiting Saudi, in addition to family travels and business.
Since daily flights to Riyadh have resumed from yesterday (January 11), he expressed confidence that “everything will go smoothly, including visits to and from Saudi, which will boost the travel business.”
Qatar Airways is also set to resume flights to Jeddah from Thursday (January 14) and to Dammam from January 16.
Some travel agencies in the country, meanwhile, recorded a number of bookings to other destinations such as Turkey, Maldives, and Germany which are popular to many Qataris for many reasons – either for leisure, business, and medical treatment, among others, it is learnt.Agencies busy with Saudi travel queries
By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter
A number of travel agencies in Qatar are witnessing an increasing number of travel booking inquiries to Saudi Arabia, mainly for Haj and Umrah, after borders and airspace have reopened recently between the two countries.
Speaking to Gulf Times, Mannai Holidays (holiday arm of Mannai Air Travels) assistant manager Amila Samith said they have been receiving several calls daily from residents who maybe planning to perform Haj or Umrah in the near future.
Citing the recent developments in the region and if Covid-19 conditions further improves in the coming months, Samith expressed confidence that people will start making bookings to Saudi, as well as to other destinations.
He said Mannai is already in touch with their partners in Saudi Arabia to secure necessary permits to resume Haj/Umrah packages. An employee of another travel agency in Doha also said they have been receiving inquiries from both regular and new customers in the past few days.
“It is picking up, we expect to get more calls in the coming weeks or months as conditions further improve, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic, because that is one of the main concerns right now,” he said.
He pointed out that Haj remains to be main reason for Muslim citizens and residents in Qatar visiting Saudi, in addition to family travels and business.
Since daily flights to Riyadh have resumed from yesterday (January 11), he expressed confidence that “everything will go smoothly, including visits to and from Saudi, which will boost the travel business.”
Qatar Airways is also set to resume flights to Jeddah from Thursday (January 14) and to Dammam from January 16.
Some travel agencies in the country, meanwhile, recorded a number of bookings to other destinations such as Turkey, Maldives, and Germany which are popular to many Qataris for many reasons – either for leisure, business, and medical treatment, among others, it is learnt.