WEB In Travel (WIT), which runs the largest and highest level online travel conference in Asia Pacific, will hold a Middle East edition in Dubai on March 26 to 27, 2014.
The first WIT Middle East will uncover the region’s travel story, unearth the opportunities and promise of one of the world’s wealthiest regions and share stories from local and global players all wanting a slice of this market.
WIT was launched in 2005 in Singapore aimed at focusing on the changing online travel trends. Since then, WIT editions have been held in Indonesia and Japan and it has held workshops and events across the region, including Australia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia.
According to a PayPal report done with Ipsos on Mena (Middle East & North Africa), there are 110 million internet users in the region, with 30 million already shopping online. The study projects that online spending in Mena will grow from $9 billion in 2012 to $15 billion by 2015.
Travel is the biggest item bought online, with an average $1,521 spent each year.
The UAE is the largest e-commerce market in the Middle East, with consumers spending $2.9 billion online last year. And it is also the most mature market for travel and tourism, accounting for 47 per cent of the total market and 60 per cent of the online market in the Middle East according to the “Assessing The Online Travel Opportunity: The Middle East report” by PhoCusWright and co-sponsored by Amadeus.
PhoCusWright projects that the total online travel market in the UAE will grow from $4.8 billion in 2011 to $9.5 billion in 2014.
As per the report, smartphones represent 62 per cent of total mobile phones in the UAE; 43 per cent of these users browse the Internet for travel-related information and 54 per cent make an online purchase. Gross bookings made by Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) are expected to rise from $1.7 billion in 2011 to $3.2 billion in 2014. Gross bookings by traditional airlines are anticipated 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 WIT Middle East programme will blend global insights with local knowledge to create a learning platform that’s tailored to the needs of the Middle Eastern market. We will do what we love to do – spark learning and inspiration, blend seasoned voices from industry leaders with new ideas from start-ups and students and build an engaged community around our content,” said Yeoh Siew Hoon, editor and founder of WIT.
Dubai-based BizGate, a marketing and consultancy firm specialising in travel and leisure, will co-manage WIT events in UAE, followed by Saudi Arabia and Turkey in coming years.