Recently, declining levels of COVID-19 infection have led many countries to loosen or remove their border restrictions, opening the door to a real recovery for the global travel industry.
The impacts were first felt by destinations in the Americas, starting in 2021 and continuing into 2022, but data experts at travel intelligence firm ForwardKeys say they are now seeing the first signs of a sector recovery in the Middle East.
advertisement
trending now
The second quarter of 2022 saw international arrivals in Africa and the Middle East drop by 33 compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, which is higher than the international outbound average of -45 percent, but behind the Americas (-27 percent), He is currently spearheading the travel revival in the region. However, the figure recorded for the same period in 2021 was -64 percent, which shows a marked improvement compared to last year.
Based on an analysis of the number of tickets issued for international arrivals to the Middle East during the second quarter of 2022, Qatar appears to be the country that is carving a path toward a travel recovery, actually enjoying a 7% increase over visitor levels prior to the pandemic. Egypt and the UAE came in second after a tie in second and third places, outperforming the regional average of -33 percent.
Currently, the UK provides the largest source market for travel to the Middle East with a market share of 13 percent doing well, only six percent down from 2019 levels. The United States, with a slightly smaller market share of 11 percent, has increased the number of Arrivals increased by 15 per cent during 2019 and appears to be at the forefront of the region’s recovery.
said Olivier Ponty, Vice President of Insights at ForwardKeys. “Given all the challenges the tourism sector has faced recently, this is an encouraging achievement for Qatar ahead of the FIFA World Cup in November.”
Another promising sign is the rise in premium cabin sales on flights, with shares increasing more than four percent since 2019. Premium class passengers are currently leading the recovery, now down just 14 percent from pre-pandemic levels, while Economy class tickets are still down 37%.
Some Middle Eastern airports are also seen as handling the bulk of incoming international passengers. Egypt’s Hurghada International Airport ranks first in terms of foreign arrivals, seeing a 17 percent increase in bookings from April to June. Doha International Airport in Qatar is another airport that is seeing an increase in the number of visitors from abroad to their country, as well as to the wider region.
“This trend has helped Doha maintain most air services during the pandemic and Qatar Airways has added more routes from its main hub in Doha,” said African market expert, Shenghai George.
“All of this can change in the blink of an eye, as we’ve seen last-minute bookings become the norm and bookings rise overnight when travel restrictions are relaxed. But we’re seeing consumer confidence for long trips rise again, as Americans are really starting to revive worldwide travel now. George added.
