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Egypt and Saudi Arabia are the top international travel destinations for MENA tourists in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, Wego, the region’s leading online travel marketplace, said in a new report.
The report, “Top Destinations for Travelers in the Middle East,” shows the relative popularity of global destinations among Middle Eastern travelers. It is by analyzing the flight and hotel data that Wego users search for tens of millions of trips each quarter to determine relative destination rankings.Global Destination Trends
“We are delighted to share this quarter’s Mena Destination Report. Our data shows that Egypt remains the top destination for MENA tourists as the country offers a mix of history, culture and adventure for all types of travelers. We have also observed that the UK continues to be voted the top European destination outside the Middle East. At Wego, we are proud to connect travelers with the best countries and we look forward to continuing to work with leading partners to promote them A unique tourism product,” said Mamoun Hmedan, CCO and MD, Wego, Mena and India.
The top three are India. The country is a major source market for foreign talent and labor in the Gulf region and consistently holds the top spot for international air travel. Egypt has been ranked first or second since as far back as 2014, while India has been ranked third since 2016.
Typically, we see more movement in the second half of the top 10, with Kuwait leapfrogging Turkey to 5th and Jordan moving up two places to 8th. The only ranking change in the top 5 is due to Turkey losing some of the cheap travel happening in 2022 as people look to take advantage of the lira depreciation. The country has gradually slipped back to sixth place as the currency situation stabilized.
As China began to reopen in the first quarter of this year, the largest quarter-over-quarter increase in the top 50 was in China (up 6 places from 26th). Meanwhile, China is also the biggest loser, falling 11 places compared to the pre-pandemic days. With travel widely expected to ease further, we expect China to also be one of the fastest growing countries in the second quarter of this year, potentially breaking out of the top 20.
Destination trends and pre-Covid
Some Asian countries have lost ground as they face stricter COVID-19 policies than they did before the pandemic. These are mainly Asian countries such as China (-11), Japan and Vietnam (-9 each), the Philippines (-8), Malaysia (-7), and Indonesia and Singapore (-4 each).
At the other end of the spectrum are countries within the GCC, which have more relaxed social and travel policies during the pandemic and offer short-haul direct flight services: Qatar and Oman each have eight places, Bahrain five, etc.
regional competition
european destination
The UK has been and will continue to be a major European destination outside the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has passed the torch just once in the past 15 months, being briefly overtaken by Georgia in July 2022. We expect Georgia and Azerbaijan to challenge England again in the summer as the Arabs look to replace the scorching heat of the Gulf summer with a milder alternative. Overall, the UK’s leadership is unlikely to be seriously challenged in 2023, as the country has been the top European destination since 2014.
One dynamic we’re seeing in the European market is Italy, which has steadily climbed from 8th in early 2022 to currently competing with Germany for 2nd.
middle east destination
Among Middle Eastern destinations, most countries maintained their rankings in Q2 2023. Saudi Arabia and Egypt continue to hold the top two spots, with the UAE firmly in third.
Türkiye and Pakistan have been moving in opposite directions. In 2022, the depreciation of the lira has attracted a large number of bargain hunters to Türkiye. Tourism interest in the country has cooled in recent months as the lira has remained relatively stable. Complicating matters were the massive earthquake that hit the country in February and a long news cycle that caused travelers to postpone or cancel travel plans to the country.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has been making progress in recent months with the help of increased flights and reduced travel restrictions.
Asia Pacific Destinations
While most Asian destinations have maintained their position relative to each other, the decline in Asia’s overall popularity relative to the rest of the world remains the most noteworthy artifact of the pandemic. With China and the rest of Asia finally easing social and travel restrictions, we expect many Asian countries to rebound and reclaim their 2019 status.
Annual Trends (2014 – 2023)
Looking at a decade of travel data, we see that regional travel destinations are growing faster than long-distance travel. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and the United States dropped out of the top 10 destinations, while Kuwait, Pakistan and Jordan are now among the top 10 destinations for tourists from the Middle East and North Africa. – trade arab news agency
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