Business travel in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is recovering faster than in any other region, according to the Global Business Travel Association.
Middle East and Africa business travel achieved 86% of its 2019 levels during 2022, outperforming the recovery in Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe.
The strong performance of the sector and future opportunities will come under the spotlight during Arabian Travel Market 2023, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre in May.
Middle East travel
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “The business travel sector is a key component of the Middle East’s wider travel and tourism industry, and it is encouraging to see that it has bounced back so strongly since the pandemic.
“The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) will present an in-depth analysis of how technology can support this return to travel and the ways in which this can be done sustainably in two education sessions with key insights from leading industry professionals.”
According to the forecast, business travel spending reached $933bn globally in 2022, 65% of the $1.4tn business pre-pandemic travel spend, with the MEA region accounting for $23bn or approximately 2.5% of overall spending within the sector.
Catherine Logan, Regional Vice President EMEA & APAC, GBTA, said: “The MEA region is an important growth market for business travel and benefitted from a prompt Covid-19 vaccination roll-out in key markets such as the UAE and Israel, as well as increased economic activity driven by the rising price of crude oil to accelerate the business travel recovery.
“The region is expected to return to pre-pandemic business travel spend by 2024 and continue its growth trajectory”.
Aside from restricted travel, an increase in remote working globally has had a dampening effect on business travel growth.
However, now that travel is almost restriction-free, employees have revealed an increased likelihood to travel more for work, whether long-term or overnight business trips according to the latest business travel outlook poll from GBTA.
Curtis said: “After the turbulent period we have experienced over the last two years, it will be very interesting to assess current market conditions and find out how business travel can continue to grow, particularly with the recent relaxation of travel restrictions in China.”
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