THE UAE has emerged as the most mature market for travel and tourism, owning 47 per cent of the total market and 60 per cent of the online market in the Middle East, a new research released by Global Travel Market Research firm PhoCusWright has revealed.
Titled ‘Assessing The Online Travel Opportunity: The Middle East’, the report is co-sponsored by Amadeus, a leading technology partner and transaction processor to the global travel and tourism industry. A comprehensive assessment of the travel and tourism industry in the Middle East, the research particularly focuses on the growth and potential of the online travel segment across markets including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar.
According to projections by PhoCusWright, the total online travel market in the UAE will grow from $4.8 billion in 2011 to $9.5 billion in 2014, highlighting a breakdown of 31 per cent rise in 2012, 24 per cent in 2013 and 22 per cent in 2014.
Antoine Medawar, vice president, Amadeus Middle East and North Africa, said: “Such staggering figures are indicative of the fast evolving travel landscape in the UAE. The UAE traveller has been identified as the most sophisticated in the Middle East in terms of technology adoption, owing to high mobile, internet and broadband penetration rates. It is evident, therefore, that technology companies must prioritise providing the industry with the right tools to support the growth of the online travel sector.”
Smartphones represent 62 per cent of total mobile phones in the UAE. The report cited that 43 per cent of these users browse the internet for travel-related information and 54 per cent make an online purchase.
It was further revealed that gross bookings made by Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) are expected to rise from $1.7 billion in 2011 to $3.2 billion in 2014.
PhoCusWright anticipates gross bookings by traditional airlines to increase from $16.5 billion in 2011 to $26.2 billion in 2014 and low cost carriers (LLCs) to increase from $1.4 billion in 2011 to $2 billion in 2014. Bookings made in the lodging segment have been estimated to rise from $6.1 billion in 2011 to $7.5 billion in 2014, while the UAE car rental space is expected to see an increase from $76 million bookings in 2011 to $84.4 million in 2014.
The economic downturn followed by the Arab Spring has been cited as the driving force behind the growth of tourism to the UAE. In 2010, the UAE’s expenditure on international and domestic tourism was approximately $12 billion and the nation recorded 9.2 million inbound and four million outbound tourists. It is projected that approximately $234 billion will be pumped into the construction industry for tourism-related projects through 2018.