Skyscanner: improved connectivity drives Middle East & North Africa demand; travel remains priority
Improved air connectivity and seat capacity are helping make travel easier, both regionally and internationally, as airlines respond to traveller demand.
What's more, countries and airport hubs across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are playing a vital role in connecting East and West as travel continues to flourish.
Travel remains a top priority as people continue to ring-fence budgets and invest in leisure trips and, across the Middle East especially, many countries have ambitious tourism growth plans and will become important drivers of both inbound and outbound travel in the years to come.
Recovery from the COVID pandemic has allowed airlines to rebuild and expand their networks to explore new and different locations.
This willingness to venture into new routes and build new markets supported the rebuild of global capacity to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, and there are increased expectations that airlines will go beyond this in 2024, connecting the globe better than ever before.
- Travel remains a top priority as people continue to ring-fence budgets and invest in leisure trips.
- Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed airlines to rebuild and expand their networks to explore new and different locations.
- With travel spend a key priority for consumers globally, destinations, along with their industry partners, must focus on value proposition more than ever.
- Saudi Arabia and UAE lead propensity to travel in MENA market.
- Across the MENA region, booking windows for the first quarter of 2024 are similar to 2023's.
- Europe, Southeast Asia and North America are the top searched regions among MENA travellers for summer 2024.
- Skyscanner reports that more than half (51%) of the travellers visiting its platform don't have a destination or dates in mind and are looking to be inspired.
- Oman and Lebanon are the two top trending destinations this summer for MENA travellers, with year-on-year growth of +462% and +347% respectively.
Destination choice increasingly influenced by personal identity
The year 2023 has been a seminal year in travel.
In all regions travellers are highly engaged in the booking and planning process, searching for destination inspiration from a variety of sources and planning long haul trips further in advance. Destination choice is increasingly influenced by not only cultural factors, but also by the particular 'vibe' that aligns with individual preferences and motivations.
The latest edition of Skyscanner Horizons, from the Scotland-based search aggregator and travel agency, shares the latest travel industry and traveller behaviour trends that the industry is experiencing on a global and regional level.
The report is a clear demonstration that travel is well and truly back, with propensity remaining high now and into the future.
With travel spend a key priority for consumers globally, destinations, along with their industry partners, must focus on value proposition more than ever, notes Skyscanner.
Homing in on what sits at the very core of the destination's brand values "is key to winning travellers' hearts", it says, yet, driving demand, with timely product proposition, will be "key to shaping decisions".
Saudi Arabia and UAE lead propensity to travel in MENA market
A new insight from Skyscanner into the Middle East and North African market notes that travellers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia are expected to take more than three trips in 2024, and spend more compared to the global average.
Elsewhere across the region, Skyscanner reports strong demand in 1Q2024, with search volume by travellers in Qatar and Oman up +50% year-on-year.
This travel Insight data is based on an Apr-2024 analysis of flight redirects and flight searches from Jan-2024 for travel departing in Jun-2024, Jul-2024 and Aug-2024, and then compared to the equivalent period in 2023.
User numbers are defined as the number of estimated unique users accessing Skyscanner's platforms each month.
MENA booking windows follow 2023 pattern
Across the MENA region, Skyscanner notes that booking windows for the first quarter of 2024 are similar to 2023's.
The 7 day to 29 day window has increased marginally by +1%, to take a 35% share. The shortest window of less than a week is down -2%, for a 25% share, while the longest booking window of +90 days is down -1%, for a 13% share.
Over three quarters of booking windows in 1Q2024 were less than 60 days, as many travellers planned and booked travel for Eid al-Fitr in Apr-2024.
Middle East and North Africa: booking windows (1Q2024)
Europe is most popular continent from MENA this summer
Europe, Southeast Asia and North America are the top searched regions among MENA travellers for summer 2024 (June - August), with Europe and Southeast Asia taking nearly two thirds of the share, according to the Skyscanner research.
Compared to 2023, however, -2% fewer travellers are searching for Europe and -1% fewer travellers are choosing to explore the Middle East and North Africa. It's Southeast Asia that's seen the biggest gain of year-on-year searches at +4%.
Apart from this changing demand, the destination choice is broadly in line with those in 2023.
Middle East and North Africa: destination searches, by region (1Q2024)
Customers are seeking inspiration when booking
Skyscanner reports that more than half (51%) of the travellers visiting its platform don't have a destination or dates in mind - they are looking to be inspired.
APAC destinations make up seven of the top 10 global list for MENA travellers, with an average trip length of between eight and 19 days.
Middle East & North Africa: top northern summer search destinations, by city (1Q2024)
Milan is the only European destination, with an average trip length of eight days, while New York concludes the top 10 with a joint top average trip length of 19 days.
'Everywhere', though, ranks at number 2, remaining very popular with travellers coming to Skyscanner without a destination or specific dates in mind, looking to be inspired.
On a city basis, apart from Bangkok, average trip lengths are all down year-on-year.
Muscat and Beirut lead regional travel in MENA
Oman and Lebanon are the two top trending destinations this northern summer for MENA travellers, with year-on-year growth of +462% and +347% respectively, according to the Skyscanner data. Travellers are also going to each destination for longer compared to summer 2023 - up half a day each, for a period of 11 and 15 days respectively.
Three European destinations also feature: Krakow, Poland; Lille, France; and Istanbul, Türkiye - all featuring average trip lengths of between 10 and 12 days.
Middle East & North Africa: top trending northern summer destinations, by city (1Q2024)
Looking East: three Asia Pacific destinations - Hong Kong; Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of India's southern state of Kerala; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - also registered around +200% year-on-year search volume increases. Although average trip length is down between one and three days on 2023, travellers are still planning trips lasting between 10 to 20 days.
George Town, the capital of the Cayman Islands, is trending at number nine, with an average trip length of 15 days (down 1.2 on 2023), while Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, ends the top 10 with an average trip length of 10 days (down three on 2023).