Vacations Unaffected by Dip in Stock Market

Monday, 18 June 2007
By Zakiyah Ibrahim Fallata
THE Saudi stock market may be down but people are still packing their bags to go on vacation outside the Kingdom, said top travel agencies.
Akram Ibrahim Dabbur, sales supervisor of Al-Attar Travel Agency in Jeddah, said Egypt ranks first in the list of top vacation destinations. "Even some who initially wanted to go to Beirut transferred their bookings to Cairo," he said. "It's the miserable conditions there (Beirut) now that changed people's minds."
Malaysia and Turkey are high on the list, too. Rich people, however, still favor and push on with trips to Europe and US.
"The wealthy have not been affected by stocks depreciation so they did not cancel their bookings," said Dabbur.
Head manager of Azzahid Travel Agency Fahd Al-Salma said people's awareness of risks involved in investing in the stock market has kept their vacation plans intact.
"These people just invested small portions of their wealth in contributions," said Al-Salma.
He said the trend for vacationers now is to go to East Asian countries especially Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Nabeel Hasan Al-Shareef, Consultant Psychiatrist in Armed Forces Hospital of Jeddah, said that despite the decline in value of Saudi stocks, he did not have to take out a loan to take his family abroad for rest and relaxation.
"I just saved up for it for a whole year because it is worth it," said he.