DAMMAM/ABHA: Travel operators say that bookings for the United States this summer have shot up compared to the figures for recent years, something they attribute to new visa regulations. The rise in demand for America, they say, is coupled with a fall in bookings for Europe. Travel agent Sami Al-Abdulhadi said that bookings for America were up by 70 percent compared to falls for Europe and East Asian countries. “The US Embassy has since last March reduced the waiting time for visa from three to four months to between seven and 21 days,” he said. “The visa also gives recipients a longer stay, in some cases valid for multiple trips over a period of five years, irrespective of the validity period of the visa-holder's passport.” He said that many Saudis found America preferable to Europe because of its cheaper living costs, which he puts at between 40 and 50 percent cheaper than Europe. “It also takes a lot longer to obtain a visa for Europe, and Europe visas are limited to six months for the first request and then for the time requested upon a second application.” He added that ticket for the US can be obtained for approximately SR4,500 with early booking, while latecomers can expect to be charged up to SR7,000. East Asian airlines, he said, have raised the price of their tickets by 40 percent through an increase in taxes they say is required to cover rising fuel costs. Leaving tickets to Sri Lanka and Indonesia rising to SR3,500 and between SR3,500 and SR4,000 respectively. “Many have also taken away cheap seat offers in order to make the largest profits they can during the summer,” Al-Abdulhadi said. Tourism marketing specialist Khalid Aal Dughaim, meanwhile, expects “considerable growth” in domestic tourism this summer due to the disturbances in the some Arab countries popular with tourists and a “fear of nuclear radiation in East Asian countries”. “The Middle East and Morocco will also not be as popular as usual due to political and security disturbances,” Aal Dughaim said. “Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and Syria will all see a marked drop in the number of Saudi tourists, while numbers heading to Turkey and Cyprus, Athens and north Europe as well as Kenya will remain stable.” Domestic tourism, by contrast, will see “much higher growth than last year”. “The summer extends into Ramadan and the Eid,” he said, “but there are still issues concerning transport and lower standards of festivals and events.
