Online travel to experience solid growth in the Middle East according to new study

According to the study – carried out by global travel market research company PhoCusWright – online travel sales in the Middle East will grow 31% from 2011 to almost $10.4B this year and are set to reach $15.8B by 2014.

This means that in 2014, online bookings will make up nearly a quarter (22%) of all travel bookings made in the region.

The research also shows the rapid development of regional Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), which are growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 18% between 2010 and 2014.

In 2011, 39% of all online bookings in the Middle East were made via OTAs and the gross booking value via OTAs is set to nearly double from $3.1B to $6B by 2014.

“The online travel industry in the Middle East is growing at an unprecedented rate”, said Rabih Saab, President and Managing Director, Middle East and Africa, Travelport. “The Middle East is one of the world’s fastest growing tourism destinations and source markets, and the online potential is immense.

“To remain competitive in the online world, travel agents have to offer travellers more choice, a comprehensive range of content and a better shopping experience. At Travelport we work closely with travel agents to help them meet these demands by offering broader content through faster distribution and sharing our expertise so they can firmly establish themselves in this rapidly evolving industry.”

Air remains the strongest category online, accounting for 67% of all online travel bookings in 2011. Online hotel sales in the Middle East accounted for 32% in 2011 and car rentals made up the remaining 1%. Notably, 59% of all online hotel bookings were made through Online Travel Agencies as opposed to direct bookings via hotel websites.

“Nearly two thirds of all online hotel bookings in the Middle East were made through intermediaries last year,” commented Saab, “and we expect this trend to continue into the future. With this foresight, Travelport has increased its focus on the hospitality sector in the past year and we continue to invest heavily in our GDS hospitality offering and Travelport Rooms and More – our online hospitality solution. This has paid off, as we have tripled the number of hotel properties available on Rooms and More since its launch last year, and continue to add key suppliers to our GDS platform.”

The study, called “Assessing the Online Travel Opportunity: The Middle East”, was carried out across 10 Middle East Countries involving UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman and looks at online travel trends in the region between 2010 and 2014.

Over 50 in-depth executive interviews were carried out with intermediaries (travel agencies and GDSs), travel suppliers (air, car, hotel), technology providers and media sites.

END

Media Contact:

Baiba Upmale

PR Manager, Middle East
Travelport

Tel: +971 4 3614836

Mob: +971 (0)566569535

Email: baiba.upmale@travelport.com

About Travelport (www.travelport.com)

Travelport is a broad-based business services company and a leading provider of critical transaction processing solutions to companies operating in the global travel industry.

With a presence in over 170 countries, approximately 3,500 employees and 2011 net revenue of $2.0 billion, Travelport is comprised of the global distribution systems (GDS) business, which includes the Galileo and Worldspan brands and its Airline IT Solutions business.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Travelport is a privately-owned company.

Follow Travelport on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Travelport