UAE travellers continue searching for India, Europe despite regional tensions

Dubai: Travel searches from the UAE remain largely focused on major international hubs, particularly India, Europe and the Middle East, even as the region navigates geopolitical uncertainty following the recent escalation involving the United States, Israel and Iran.

Data shared by travel search platform Skyscanner shows that travellers in the UAE continued planning trips in early March, with cities in India dominating the most-searched destinations.

According to the insights extracted on March 9, Mumbai topped the list of most searched destinations from the UAE, accounting for 6.43 per cent of all travel searches for upcoming trips. It was followed by New Delhi at 5.03 per cent, while London ranked third with 4.65 per cent of total searches.

Other popular destinations included Cairo (3.58 per cent), Chennai (2.55 per cent), Istanbul (2.25 per cent), Hyderabad (2.07 per cent) and Ahmedabad (1.79 per cent).

The continued dominance of Indian cities reflects the large expatriate population in the UAE, while growing interest in European and Southeast Asian destinations indicates travellers are still planning leisure trips for the coming months.

The data suggests travel demand from the UAE remains resilient despite heightened geopolitical tensions in the wider Middle East.

The data also highlights destinations experiencing the fastest growth in searches over the past week, indicating emerging travel interest despite the volatile regional backdrop.

Chennai recorded the largest surge with 6.43 per cent growth in searches over seven days. Other destinations seeing notable increases included Kochi (+2.79 per cent), Barcelona (+2.47 per cent), Manchester (+2.22 per cent) and Phuket (+1.96 per cent).

European cities such as Dublin, Milan and Frankfurt also saw steady increases in travel searches, along with continued demand for London.

Looking at longer-term trends over the past 28 days, the data shows strong growth in searches for religious and regional destinations.

Jeddah saw the highest increase at 4.52 per cent, followed by New Delhi (+2.93 per cent) and Amritsar (+2.82 per cent).

Other cities recording increased interest included Pune, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. Pilgrimage destinations such as Madinah also saw a rise in searches, reflecting seasonal demand linked to Umrah travel.