Travellers from the GCC are gearing up for a busy travel schedule as COVID-19 restrictions are being eased across the world and the global travel and tourism industry slowly climbs back to normalcy.
GCC travellers, particular, are looking to make up for lost time when it comes to travel, with the anticipation of embarking to new destinations and enjoying new experiences dominating conversations, according to a recent research by D/A.
The research is based on the analysis of over 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% and 151%, respectively, between 2019 and 2021.
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% of GCC travellers spending more than US$10,000 on their last trip to Europe. Travellers from Saudi Arabia are reportedly the highest travel spenders globally.
“Travel conversations increased to over 1.3 million in 2021, underscoring the willingness by Arabic speakers in the GCC to travel, regardless of age or nationality,” said Paul Kelly, Managing Partner, D/A. “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.”
“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.
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