Middle East leads travel recovery
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he Middle East experienced the highest business travel sentiment throughout the pandemic, which kickstarted recovery. That’s according to research by YouGov, presented at the ‘future of business travel’ session at ATM by the firm’s Commercial Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Sam Dawson. YouGov’s survey of travellers, which is drawn from a pool of 20 million-plus registered panel members in more than 55 markets, found that while domestic leisure travel still leads the way in terms of industry recovery, international travel is picking up fast too. When asked which trips they were planning in the next 12 months, 41 per cent of YouGov survey respondents said domestic leisure and 37 per cent said international leisure, which was 17 percentage points higher than the global average. The percentage of travellers intending to take international business trips, meanwhile, was seven per cent higher than the global average. With destinations like the UAE promoting their livability credentials and launching remote work visas, Dawson highlighted the potential to attract the growing number of digital nomads and longer stay ‘bleisure’ travellers, pinpointing key source markets. Workcations appealed to 80 per cent of Filipinos surveyed, 73 per cent of Indonesians, 68 per cent of Indians, 25 per cent of Americans and 17 per cent of Brits, he revealed. Dawson also noted diverse market conditions and different stages of business travel recovery existing across the Middle East. According to YouGov findings, 65 per cent of Middle East business travellers believe the COVID-19 situation is improving worldwide, compared to the global average of 50 per cent. In the UAE, just 39 per cent of business travellers had cancelled or were considering cancelling overseas travel plans compared to 59 per cent the previous year. Dawson said the proportion of people who had not travelled for business or pleasure in the last 12 months remained above pre-COVID levels, however, 58 per cent of business travellers in the Middle East had taken more than one business trip in the past 12 months. Lastly, YouGov found sustainability is top of mind for business travellers, particularly in the UAE, with Dawson stressing that travel companies need to match their expectations. When asked if they considered themselves an environmentalist, 69 per cent of UAE business travellers said yes in April 2022 compared to 68 per cent in April 2021. In addition, 60 per cent said they only buy from companies who are socially and environmentally responsible (April 2022) versus 56 per cent in April 2021.
New travel experiences in demand
Speaking on the ATM Global Stage on day two of ATM (May 10), Paul Kelly, Managing Partner of consumer intelligence company JUNE 2022
Destinations have opportunities to attract digital nomads
D/A, highlighted the important role GCC travellers have to play in tourism recovery. They are looking to make up for lost time when it comes to travel, with the anticipation of new experiences dominating conversations, according to research based on the analysis of more than four million social media posts and comments from more than two million Arabic-speaking unique users in the GCC. The number of travel conversations and posts about travel increased by 110 per cent and 151 per cent respectively, between 2019 and 2021. “Travel conversations increased to more than 1.3 million in 2021, underscoring the willingness by Arabic speakers in the GCC to travel, regardless of age or nationality,” said Kelly. “We are ultimately witnessing the pent-up demand from the last two years coming to the fore as borders reopen, flights are back on track and restrictions are lifted.” GCC travellers have a vital role in tourism recovery, a direct result of their spending power. According to the UNWTO, GCC travellers spend 6.5 times more than the global average, with 40 per cent of GCC travellers spending more than AED 36,700 on their last trip to Europe. Travellers from Saudi Arabia are reportedly the highest travel spenders globally. “Overall, when it comes to the GCC traveller, the conversations indicate that something new is the order of the moment. Even in the familiar, a new experience is at the top of the wish list for those intent on travelling soon – a huge change from what we have seen in the past year or two,” Kelly added. In terms of holiday preference, the consensus is on escaping and breaking free and discovering new experiences, which many have been unable to do in the last two years. Those in the younger age groups were keen on shopping and enjoying local flavours, while the older groups were more focused on staying closer to nature and relaxing. Having fun was a mainstay; however, mid-career professionals have a lot of work travel lined up. Holiday destinations favoured by GCC travellers followed the global Google trend, which saw a spike in the search terms ‘staycation’ in 2020, which was representative of the number of people from GCC countries looking to vacation locally. According to the D/A research, the UAE was the most popular destination in the MENA region, followed by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, and Qatar. In Europe, the UK was the most popular destination, followed by France, Germany and Italy, with Switzerland rounding out the top five list.
