India attracts MENA residents

UAE, Dubai, 4 September 2018: India is now the second most popular destination after Egypt for travellers from the Middle East, North Africa region (MENA), according to Wego’s latest research.

Wego released detail of its “ MENA Traveller Destination Leaderboards for Q2-2018,” last week, which highlights the rise and fall in popularity of travel destinations amongst travellers from the MENA region, based on their flight and hotel searches.

India moved up to second place based on search activity logged by millions of users searching Wego’s apps and websites during the second quarter of 2018.

It replaced Saudi Arabia that dropped from second to third place in the leaderboard.

The second quarter of 2018 saw significant changes in the ranking of the most popular destinations based on travellers resident in the MENA region.

While, Egypt maintained its position at the top of the most popular destinations for Q2, India jumped a significant two places to second place – up from fourth place in Q2 2017.

This is probably a result of the holy month of Ramadan beginning mid-May and many Gulf-based Indian expats who chose to travel to their home country during this period (or immediately afterwards).

Saudi Arabia was pushed down to third spot, but it remained a popular destination.

Turkey also moved down one spot in Q2 2018 to fourth place. Wego noted that the nation is looking especially affordable for GCC-based travellers, this year, owing to continued currency weakness.

Overall, the UAE retains its spot as the fifth most popular destination; a position that it has been holding on to for the last four quarters.

Travel to the Philippines from the MENA region saw strong growth in Q2 2018 with it taking the eighth place up two places on 2017 findings. This appears to have been caused by expats travelling home during Ramadan, marketing efforts by the Philippine Department of Tourism and the opening up of new airline routes.

Both Thailand and Malaysia lost ground in the analysis, although they remain popular destination for MENA residents.

Thailand registered a 13^th place in the chart down one place from findings in 2017. Malaysia in 15h place lost two places. Another big player, Indonesia ranked sixth

Lebanon, now at ranked 11th, has emerged as this quarter’s big gainer – up by four places on the Wego Traveller Destination Leaderboards. This rise also appears to be caused by a combination of GCC-based Lebanese expats travelling home for summer vacations and interest from affluent GCC tourists looking to escape the heat this year.

Azerbaijan is another big climber in 2018 – now ranked 17th, up three spots from Q2 last year. Working in Azerbaijan’s favour is the fact that it’s only a short flight from the MENA region, and offers great weather, halal food and cultural familiarity. It’s also a great example of why any destination that is serious about tourism needs to streamline visa policies.

The Asia-Pacific destination leaderboard remains largely unchanged in Q2 2018. The four tropical destinations of Indonesia (1^st), Philippines (2^nd), Thailand (3^rd) and Malaysia (4^th) retain their spots. This also validates the enduring appeal of the tropics to those living in drier parts of the world.

Ranked fifth, China will possibly over time challenge the popularity of the other big Southeast Asian destinations among MENA-based travellers.

In Q2 2018 only Japan and Singapore have swapped positions, and are now ranked ninth and tenth respectively.

Wego provides travel search websites and top ranked mobile apps for travellers living in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions. Founded in 2005 the company is headquartered in Dubai and Singapore with regional operations in Bangalore، Jakarta and Cairo.

(Source: Wego data)