THE online travel industry in the Middle East is flourishing at an unprecedented rate with online bookings growing by nearly a third this year, according to a new Travelport co-sponsored research.
A shift in the attitude of the region’s travellers to new booking channels has seen online bookings grow by almost a third in 2012 to reach just under $10.4 billion, up 31 per cent on 2011 figures.
According to the study from Travelport entitled ‘Assessing the Online Travel Opportunity: The Middle East’, conducted in association with global travel market research company PhoCusWright, this upward trend is predicted to continue with online bookings expected to account for 22 per cent of all travel bookings made in the region within the next two years, with a total value of $15.8 billion.
The research also shows the rapid development of regional Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), which are growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 18 per cent between 2010 and 2014.
In 2011, 39 per cent of all online bookings in the Middle East were made via OTAs and the gross booking value via OTAs is set to nearly double from $3.1 billion to $6 billion by 2014.
“The online travel industry in the Middle East is growing at an unprecedented rate”, said Rabih Saab, president and managing director, Middle East and Africa, Travelport.
“The Middle East is one of the world’s fastest growing tourism destinations and source markets, and the online potential is immense.
Air remains the strongest category online, accounting for 67 per cent of all online travel bookings in 2011. Online hotel sales in the Middle East accounted for 32 per cent in 2011 and car rentals made up the remaining one per cent. Notably, 59 per cent of all online hotel bookings were made through OTAs as opposed to direct bookings via hotel websites. “Nearly two thirds of all online hotel bookings in the Middle East were made through intermediaries last year,” commented Saab, “and we expect this trend to continue into the future.
“Mirroring this sharp rise in the online travel marketplace, floor space in the Technology and Online Wholesalers section for next year’s Arabian Travel Market is already 78 per cent sold” said said Mark Walsh, portfolio director, Reed Travel Exhibitions.
Travelport’s research document confirms the findings of a mid-year report issued by travel comparison site wego.ae, which profiled 50,000 website users. Similar to the early adoption of travel sites in Asia, Wego found that UAE travellers are taking control of their own itineraries as they search for best deals and added value.
Growing confidence in ecommerce sites and the safety of web-based transactions is also prompting an increase in interest in online travel searches, says Wego, which also saw a substantial rise in traffic and transactions following the launch of its parallel Arabic-English platforms earlier this year.
According to searches by local users for flights from Abu Dhabi have increased by 120 per cent year-on-year, and by 106 per cent for Dubai departures. Flight searches to neighbouring Qatar have doubled; with Saudi Arabia registering a 76 per cent increase.