Extension of “Winter holidays” stimulates domestic tourism

Officials of tourism and travel agencies in the country expected that the next winter season will witness a boom in domestic tourism, pointing out that the extension of the winter holidays to become a full month and unify the holidays to be applied to public and private schools and universities together, will lead to great tourism boom and the growth of domestic tourism by rates of up to 60%, in addition to the rise in foreign tourism by up to 30%, increasing the reservation of airline tickets, and issuing visas Tourism, and they called through “Emirates Today” to reduce the prices of tourist and recreational destinations, and they also demanded hotels to offer reduced rates with reasonable percentages for families.

The Ministry of Education announced, recently, a new structure for the academic calendar, which includes a four -week winter holiday, starting from the eighth of December 2025 to January 4, 2026, to be resumed on January 5th, and the new calendar includes unifying vacations to be applied to all schools in the state, governmental and private For universities with schools.

In detail, the general manager of the “Jasmine Travel and Tourism Company”, Salah Khaled Salem, said that “extending the holiday and uniting it in all schools and universities will lead to a great tourism boom in the Emirates, the growth of domestic tourism at rates ranging between 40 and 60%, and foreign tourism by up to 30%.”

Salem added to «Emirates Today»: “The effects of this decision extend to include domestic and external tourism, as there are families who will pass the holiday in the country, in which case some families prefer to spend some days of holidays in hotels and visit tourist places, and that residents who could not travel, will prefer to invite their families to spend the holiday with them in the Emirates, which also enhances the aviation sector, and increases the seizure of airline tickets Tourist visas.

He continued: “Even families that intend to travel, they will most likely not go on all this long vacation abroad, as it is expected to spend an aspect of the holiday in the country, whether spending several days in a hotel or visiting tourist destinations.”

Salem called for reducing the prices of tickets for destinations and tourist places in the country, such as “Burj Khalifa”, the entertainment areas of “Yas Island” in Abu Dhabi and museums scattered in the emirates of the state.

He pointed out that hotel prices are governed by several factors, the most prominent of which are occupancy, supply and demand levels, at a time when the winter season is generally distinguished by the high demand, coinciding with the winter holidays and holidays, as well as exhibitions, conferences and events hosted by the state, after it became a regional and international center attractive to regional and international events.

For his part, the general manager of “Balasa Tourism Company”, Narous Sarkis, expected that the extension of the winter holidays and its unification between schools and universities will lead to the growth of domestic tourism at rates exceeding 30%, indicating that the length of the holiday gives the opportunity to travel outside the state for a specific period, and spend the rest of the leave in the state.

Sarkis added: “It is expected that several tourist hotels and destinations in the country will offer initiatives to reduce prices, especially for families to raise the levels of occupancy to record levels, attract and stimulate domestic tourism during the winter holiday,” noting that “the winter season usually witnesses an increase in the occupation of a large number of hotels, in light of hosting many important events and exhibitions in the state.”

As for the director of sales at MK Travel and Tourism Agency, Wael Salem, he expected that the winter season will witness a boom in domestic tourism, to increase by rates exceeding 50% in conjunction with the long winter holidays, as well as the increase in the number of visitors from abroad, including the families of the residents, in light of the holiday coincidence with holidays abroad, and low temperatures, so that external tourism grows at more than 20%.

Salem called on the hotels to offer reduced offers for families to a certain percentage of the rooms, and also called on tourist and entertainment destinations, to offer attractive offers for families to enjoy the vacation within the country at reasonable prices.

He continued: «The high job occupancy in the winter season should not prevent the allocation of rooms for families to support domestic tourism, and to provide a distinctive hotel experience that families encourage them to repeat at times that do not constitute the peak of the season, which is beneficial to hotels in the long run.

For his part, the tourist expert, Saud Mohamed Al -Darmaki, said that the decision to extend the holiday and unify it will have several positive effects in domestic tourism, expecting that it will rise in rates ranging between 40 and 50%, especially since the leave is long and includes schools and universities together, and that the temperatures at that time are better throughout the year.

Al -Darmaki called on tourist destinations and hotels in the country, to offer discounts on their prices during the holiday period, focus on offering offers, including free purchasing vouchers and visiting free entertainment destinations, and extending the stay periods so that they are more attractive to families, especially since prices in the winter season are high due to the increase in entertainment tourism and conference tourism and exhibitions at that time.