RIYADH: Data from the travel-sector digital marketing platform Sojern shows that there has been a dramatic 70.5 percent surge in interest in Qatar since its restoration of relations with Saudi Arabia and the reopening of land and air borders between the two GCC neighbors. “This potentially highlights interest in the new opportunities to travel across the borders presented by relations being restored… A positive increase in search volume to Qatar in the last 14 days from Saudi Arabia can be observed as compared to the searches in the last 28 days,” Sojern said in a blog analyzing the first two weeks of 2021. While the reopening of Saudi borders has been delayed until May, according to an announcement on Friday, the Kingdom’s travellers are still keen to enjoy domestic breaks away.