Brighter skies ahead for Mideast carriers

The UAE stands out in terms of international travel sentiment, with respondents planning to travel substantially more than consumers in other countries while globally, appetite for international travel is much lower than domestic, a study on the global travel and tourism industry revealed.

In the Middle East, regional carriers have brighter skies ahead with higher local appetite for business travel whether to destinations regionally, in Europe or Asia Pacific (Apac).

“Both domestic and regional tourism is expected to be vibrant. Consideration for major destinations in the Middle East such as Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Egypt, and Qatar has been trending upward since November 2020,” said YouGov’s International Travel & Tourism Report 2021, which analyses consumer travel preferences and identifies the emerging opportunities that will prove most lucrative for industry players.

Another important finding of the study is that consumer sentiment data points to a slow demand for business travel compared to leisure travel.

Respondents in the APAC and Middle East Africa regions are more likely to travel for business, both domestically and internationally, than those in Europe and North America.

“Those in the Middle East particularly are more likely to travel internationally for business, meaning this could be a favourable target market for airlines and hotels, particularly those brands offering more premium products,” YouGov’s study said.

“The road back to normality is going to be a bumpy one. Only one in five consumers globally plan to travel internationally in the next 12 months, so competition to attract them will be fierce,” said Eva Stewart, Global Sector Head of Travel & Tourism.

Globally, appetite for international travel (18 per cent) is lower than domestic (51 per cent) even as 77 per cent of global consumers are planning travel in the next 12 months with 57 per cent planning more than two trips.