Indians look for holidays in West Asia early October

With a long extended weekend in sight in the first week of October, Skyscanner, one of the leading travel portals, has found that web search of West Asian countries by prospective travellers is increasing in comparison to last year.

The Arab countries of Qatar, Oman and Kuwait saw 516%, 515%, and 494% increase over last year. The survey pointed to 444 per cent increase in searches for Saudi Arabia, but it coincides with the Haj travel dates between October 2 and 7 to Mecca for annual pilgrimage.

"2014 has eight long weekends with October's being the longest. Our data shows that Indians become more experimental when it comes to travel. In the spirit of exploration, they are searching for newer destinations and are making advance reservations to make the most of the four-day break," said Kavitha Gnanamurthy, senior marketing manager, Skyscanner India.

However, traditional foreign attractions for Indians, including Thailand, UAE and Singapore, continue to top the charts for short-haul destinations during October. The Indian cities of Bhuj, Jodhpur, Bagdogra, Udaipur and Gaya were also found to be prominently searched on web.

Tourism industry experts claim that the rising curiosity among Indians for the West Asian counties could probably be due to long and sustained promotional activities being carried around by the countries in India. "The cheaper air tickets offered are acting as incentive to it," said Suhas Nath, a travel expert.

Golf, cycling along hundreds of miles of desert off-roads, road trips to beaches, desert dunes, fossil hunting are some of the popular things to do in Qatar. On the other hand, visitors can explore the mountains, springs, historical mosques, etc. in Oman. Similarly, Kuwait has to offer beaches, entertainment parks, etc.

The survey further points out that around 56 per cent of Indians book their travel over three months in advance, to make sure their preferred dates are secured.