The 9/11 terrorism attacks may have stifled outbound travel to destinations outside of the Middle East, but benefited regional tourism immensely.
That was one of the key findings of an outbound tourism study conducted by Dubai-based market research and tourism consulting specialist, Market Vision, details of which were revealed by the company’s director, Gautam Sen Gupta, director, at Arabian Travel Market in May.
“I believe intra-regional tourism is here to stay.
After 9/11 people were forced to look inwards and discovered things in this region that they didn’t know existed.
They found snow in Lebanon and history in Oman,†Gupta told delegates.
“Suddenly their eyes opened and because these places are short-haul, the holidays cost less too.
This is a huge driver.â€
Regional tourism witnessed steady growth from 1990 and 2004, commanding a 62.4% and 77% market share respectively, according to Market Vision.
Factors contributing to growth since 2000 include the establishment of national tourism boards by Gulf countries, investment in tourism infrastructure, an increase in regional marketing and promotion activities and, more recently, the launch of low cost airlines such as Air Arabia.
“They have made it cheaper and easier for people to fly around the region.
I suspect that people are flying for business trips much more,†said Gupta.
The UAE, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan were the main beneficiaries of the intra-regional travel boom, he added.
For example, tourist arrivals to Dubai from Saudi Arabia rocketed from 406,000 in 2001 to 648,000 in 2005, according to Market Vision’s findings.
Middle East tourist departures increased from 8.5 million in 1990 to 22 million in 2004 and the region’s share of the world’s tourism generating regions nudged from 1.9% to 2.9%.
Average annual outbound tourism growth shot up 10% compared to the world average of 3%.
Key source markets from the Gulf region are Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait, which account for 80% of total outbound travel.
Post 9/11, as well as selecting short-haul destinations that were perceived as “safeâ€, Middle East travellers also shifted their preferences towards “friendly†inter-regional destinations such as Malaysia, Singapore and Turkey, according to Gupta.
However, outbound travel to “familiar destinations†such as Europe has witnessed a resurgence in the past couple of years, he added.
“Europe has been the traditional outbound holiday destination for Gulf travellers for many years and it’s definitely coming back.
Air access [to European destinations] has increased and European countries are making significant marketing efforts in the Middle East,†Gupta explained.
Until 2003, the only countries with tourist board representation in the Middle East were the UK, India, Morocco, Tunisia, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Malaysia and Turkey.
In 2004 and 2005, Cyprus, Korea, Singapore, Germany and France came on board.
This year, Austria, Greece, Canada and Ireland either have, or are about to set up a Middle East outpost in a bid to grab their share of the region’s lucrative outbound market.
As a result, the travel agent community is being bombarded with fam trip invites, workshop visits and sales calls.
Market Vision also gauged the holiday activity preferences of the UAE and Saudi Arabian travellers.
It found that walking around and enjoying the atmosphere of a country, going sightseeing, shipping and visiting entertainment centres were the top priority for Saudi Arabian travellers.
They were least interested participating in sporting activities and enjoying the nightlife and musicals, theatre and exhibitions.
UAE travellers’ preferences differed slightly.
Relaxation, eating good food, visiting friends and relative (VFR) and touring/driving around were top of their agenda.
Their least favourite activities tallied with those of their Saudi Arabian counterparts.
Looking forward, outbound travel regionally and internationally will witness strong growth due to several factors, said Gupta.
“The Middle East tourist is travelling more often and is no longer limited to one holiday break in the summer.
The ex-pat community is growing in proportion and is therefore becoming more influential.
Their holiday tastes and preferences are also quite different [to those of Arab nationals],†he explained.
Primarily catering to this demand are regional and international carriers, which have added new routes and more capacity almost on a daily basis.
In response, agents, operators and online travel sites are creating more package holiday options.
“One of the only barriers to growth is the visa situation, solutions to which are currently being debated,†said Gupta.
He cited three of the biggest future growth markets as cruising, timeshare and spa resorts.
For more information visit www.market-vision.com,
e-mail [email protected] or
call +9714 391241.
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