Dubai: The UAE is one of the most popular destinations for travellers from the Middle East and Africa (MENA) region, according to a recent study released on Tuesday by Visa, the global payment technology company.
The Global Travel Intentions Study 2015, which released at the second day of Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, showed that 81 per cent of the people surveyed said that the UAE would remain among the top destinations for global travellers over the next year.
Almost 95 per cent responded that sightseeing, entertainment and good shopping are the top drivers for travelling to the UAE in the next year, according to the study.
16 per cent of (MENA) of 1,637 respondents from Middle East and North Africa region consider the UAE as their favourable travel destination, ahead of Turkey and Egypt,
“Leisure is a serious business and insights of this kind are invaluable in our collaboration with the travel, hospitality and leisure sectors and to understand the individual travellers’ sentiments,” said Marcello Baricordi, General Manager UAE and Global Accounts Lead at Visa MENA.
The study surveyed 13,603 travellers from 25 countries in two months, January to February 2015.
Travellers from Saudi Arabia are the biggest spenders globally per trip followed by Egyptians, Chinese and UAE at $8,866, $4,917, 4,780 and 2,518 respectively, according to the study.
Credit cards are the most preferred way to pay for holidays with 46 per cent of global travellers using the payment method, but 61 per cent of the UAE travellers use credit cards to travel, according to Visa.
“Considering the travel industry generated 10 per cent of global Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in 2014 and it is expected to grow by 3.7 per cent this year, this is an important message for merchants, government and industry patterns to improve their payment methods,” Baricordi said.
According to the study, solo travelling is a growing trend. In 2015, 24 per cent of global travellers are opting to travel alone, compared to 15 per cent in 2014.
Moroccan Women are the biggest solo travellers presenting 36 per cent of all global travellers, followed by Egyptian and UAE women at 31 per cent.
