Why You Want Arab Travellers to Visit Your Destination
The GDP of the combined Arab world ranks it as the world’s eighth largest economy. As such, attracting customers from the MENA region can be highly profitable. Arab tourists spend more than any other group of travellers, often travel with larger groups, and frequently take longer vacations, making them highly valuable consumers. When abroad, Arab travellers frequent locations with access to luxury shopping, five star hotels, fine dining options, and cultural attractions. Major cities in Europe like London, Paris, and Frankfurt are popular tourist destinations for wealthy Arabs travelling for a variety of reasons.
Arab Traveller Spending Abroad
While Arab tourists plan vacations, they often come prepared to spend more than any other group of tourists. In 2014, Saudi Arabian travellers alone spent more than £14 billion while abroad, and the country sends at least four and a half million tourists abroad annually. Saudis spend £78 million on hotel stays in London every year, as it is one of their most highly regarded vacation destinations. The average spend per trip for Saudi tourists is £4,500, which is nearly £2000 more than the next highest spenders outside the MENA region, while young Emirati travellers spend an average of 200 € per night while abroad. In one summer, Arab travellers contributed £1.3 billion of £4 billion in London’s revenues. The amount of money spent by Arab tourists from Saudi Arabia, Emirates, and Kuwait far surpases that of their counterparts from other regions, meaning attracting Arab consumers can substantially benefit your business, especially if you provide some of the luxuries they desire.
Younger Arab Tourists Stay Longer
Though these statistics are impressive, there are many more benefits to attracting Arab travellers. With half the MENA population under 25, Arab consumers are some of the youngest travellers. Young, wealthy Arabs tend to take longer, more expensive vacations. Young Emirati travellers have an average 14 day stay, with nearly 30% of vacations lasting longer than 16 nights. Younger travellers are looking for a luxury experience, and some well-to-do Gulf youth will spend entire summers seeking refuge from the heat in posh locations around the world.
Arabs Travel with Families
In addition to the younger generations, Arabs have a strong family culture, and often will vacation with a large number of family members. Arab tourists that travel with the family unit will require multiple rooms, dining options for the whole family, and activities for groups. Family units offer an opportunity to target multiple age groups. Larger Arab families often come seeking accommodations in either luxury hotels, or full-service apartments with house staff to cook and clean. Additionally, with wealthier Arab travellers, health-related vacations are quite popular, and most of travel for medical purposes means the company of extended family as well.
How You can Entice Arab Travellers
While there are many benefits of attracting Arab tourists, it can be difficult to appropriately accommodate these individuals. In the Arab world, strong cultural and religious traditions are deeply ingrained in family life, and it’s impossible to entice Arab consumers without an understanding of their values, needs, and wants.
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