While Dubai’s towering Burj Khalifa and bustling shopping malls make it the tourist capital of the region, the Jordanian city of Amman has outflanked dozens of others to become the second most popular destination among Arab travelers. This was revealed in the preliminary findings of the Arab Traveler Destination Report 2012 being published by Irhal.com, the world’s leading Islamic travel website. 

Irhal.com has a collection of more than 90 city guides with information ranging from tourist attractions and bargain shopping locations to prayer timings and halal restaurants. An analysis of visitor behavior reflecting the preferences of Irhal’s 250,000 monthly visitors ranked Dubai as number 1 in popularity among both Arab and English-speaking travelers from the MENA region. While Amman was ranked second, Beirut came in as a close third, followed byDoha and Abu Dhabi - reflecting the efforts of the tourism promotion activities of Qatar and Abu Dhabi, as both these cities were not among the top 10 lastyear.

While regional cities remain attractive destinations for both short and long term holidays, London and Geneva came in as the number 6 and number 7 most popular destinations among Muslim travelers from the Middle East.  

London has long been the favorite European city for Arab travelers. Not only does it have a rich cultural heritage which attracts tourists, the abundance of halal restaurants and mosques in the city makes it even more appealing to the Muslim holidaymaker. Hotels in Geneva have also invested in providing culturally sensitive fare such as halal food, women’s only swimming facilities and special Ramadan meals and prayer areas and this has resulted in influencing the selection of Geneva as a holiday destination.

Other popular cities among Muslim travelers are Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Jakarta in the Far East – with Bangkok losing much of its appeal due to political disturbances and flooding during the last 12 months. Istanbul has gained importance due to the popularity of Turkish sitcoms in the Middle East and is now among the top 10 destinations on Irhal.com. Montreal and Chicago are the most visited long haul destinations.

Arab travelers are now exploring Dublin, influenced perhaps by the regional marketing efforts of Tourism Ireland. Seasonal favorites are Makkah and Madinah, which rank number 3 and number 4 during Ramadan and the Hajj season.

Beijing and Shanghai in China are likely to gain favor as recent browsing habits of Irhal visitors show a surge in traffic to these cities.

Special offers, discounted hotel stays, and package deals are popular among Irhal visitors - a reflection of the difficult economic situation in the region. But it is not price alone which attracts travelers. Football is an extremely popular sport in the region and the recent promotion by Etihad Airways, giving away tickets to the classic match between Real Madrid and Barcelona was the most-read news item on Irhal.

Irhal.com is an Arabic/English Islamic travel website which was launched in April 2010 to cater to the needs of outbound travelers from the Middle East. With over 90 city guides in Arabic, it is the largest collection of Arabic travel content on the internet. People visit irhal.com for travel ideas and for planning their next holiday. Besides city guides, the site also has information on Islamic landmarks, travel stories and special offers which help influence the travel plans of the 250,000 unique visitors who come to irhal.com everymonth.

 Most popular cities on Irhal.com during May 2011 to April 2012

1 Dubai

2 Amman

3 Beirut

4 Doha

5 Abu Dhabi

6 London

7 Geneva

8 Singapore

9 Istanbul

10 Dublin

11 Jakarta

12 Montreal

13 Hong Kong

14 Makkah

15 Kuala Lumpur

 Links:

http://irhal.com/Press/Press_en/PRESS-RELEASES.html

http://irhal.com/ar/press/pres_ar/%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%B5%D8%AD%D9%81%D9%8A.html