UAE travel trends: Long-haul destinations back in demand in 2024

Japan’s Osaka and Tokyo are among the top three cities that UAE residents want to visit in 2024, as a majority – 97 per cent – of them are keen to explore new destinations this year, according to a new study.

Global travel site Skyscanner's new survey released on Tuesday found Osaka at the top of the list of UAE residents searching for travel in 2024, an increase of over 300 per cent, followed by Antalya (273%), Tokyo (250%), Rome (154%), Berlin (96%), Amsterdam, New York, London, Athens and Paris.

Conducted by OnePoll in August 2023, the survey covered views of 1,000 UAE residents. The study found that travel search demand among UAE residents is up by over 54 per cent in 2024 as people increasingly look at long-haul destinations.

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“Long-haul destinations are coming back in 2024 because 2022-23 saw people travelling to closer destinations after the pandemic. Now there is a more appetite for long-haul travel,” Ayoub El Mamoun, Skyscanner’s travel and destinations expert, said during the launch of the new study in Dubai on Tuesday.

Sharing trends, the study found that 46 per cent of UAE travellers have booked a destination purely on the basis of a specific restaurant that they want to visit. While 72 per cent of UAE travellers will consider travelling to a gig in a different country if it would help save them money while 38 per cent would willingly take a short-haul flight to see their favourite artists live.

In selecting a destination, over one quarter – 28 per cent – of residents use film and television as a source of inspiration.

Around 26 per cent of travellers aged 18-24 now said they bring a Polaroid camera with them on holiday, while 37 per cent of residents said they check their work email during holidays, struggling to switch off from work.

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