Holiday fever grips Oman

MUSCAT: With a long holiday expected to be announced soon for the forthcoming Eid, travel agents and border officials are bracing for a large turnout of travellers.
Traditionally, about 200,000 travellers book tickets to fly to favourite destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia, Turkey, India and Dubai during the Eid holidays.
"We are already starting to receive an overwhelming number of queries from holiday-makers for these top destinations. In the few days leading to the Eid Al Adha holiday, we expect people to come and confirm their travel plans once the holidays have been announced," Raj Shekhar, manager of Capital Travel Agent, said.
Eid Al Adha is expected to be on November 16 and the holiday is expected to start a day earlier for a week.
But sky-bound travellers will comprise only part of the holiday fever. The road towards Dubai will be packed and the border queues longer than usual.
  "Last Eid, over 100,000 crossed the borders on different days of the holiday driving to Dubai as well as to Abu Dhabi. We expect at least the same number of drivers to do the same this time round," a spokesman of the border immigration checkpoint, said.
But it is not only the outbound travellers who are expected to rise this Eid. Residents from other GCC countries are expected to come in flocks too, both by road and flights.
Hotel managers are rubbing their hands in glee with anticipation.
"We have had an increasing number of GCC tourists coming to Oman during the Eid holidays in the last five years. We expect the same this time. It is great since it increases our revenue and profitability," Mohan Patel, manager of Al Hail Hotel, said.
But the department of traffic cautioned drivers heading to the boarder to drive carefully to avoid accidents. "My message is that do not ruin your holiday by driving recklessly," a traffic department official advised.