WEGO, the leading travel metasearch engine in the Asia Pacific and Middle East is establishing a dedicated full-service operation in Dubai as part of its global expansion strategy following a year of record growth in the region.
Wego launched the world’s first comprehensive Arabic language travel metasearch site last April, https://www.wego.ae in recognition of the desire amongst travellers to compare their travel options and book online. Internet users across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) have since adopted the site in huge numbers, already equivalent to the total from the company’s mature European sites.
Wego operates over 50 websites in 30 languages around the world, managing many millions of flight and hotel searches each month. Travellers in the region now account for one in every seven searches on the site.
Wego’s new regional headquarters in Dubai Internet City will be headed by Mohamad Ibrahim Masri who joins as managing director – Mena.
“Arab travellers embrace Wego as a means to gain control of their travel plans and enjoy greater value for money. The travel comparison shopping concept has huge appeal among internet users in the region, who are almost universally regular travellers,” commented Masri. “We are working with the flagship carriers, hotel brands and online travel agents across the Middle East, but the priority is going to be further integration and customisation to meet the burgeoning demand right into the longtail.”
Looking ahead, Masri refers to PhoCusWright’s prediction that the online travel sector in the Emirates alone will grow 24 per cent in 2013 and 22 per cent in 2014 to reach $9.5 billion, of which online travel agents will produce $3.2 billion. Wego is expected to be on an even higher trajectory driven also by direct bookings with its airline partners including Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways, integrated hotel sites and aggregators, such as Booking.com.