JEDDAH – Regional Internet bookings were expected to grow by another $5.4 billion, accounting for 22 percent of all travel bookings within two years, with a total value of $15.8 billion, the October 2012 study from Travelport entitled “Assessing the Online Travel Opportunity: The Middle East”, conducted in association with global travel market research company PhoCusWright, said. A shift in the attitude of the region's travelers to new booking channels has seen online bookings grow by almost a third in 2012 to reach just under $10.4 billion, up 31 percent from 2011 figures. The topic of online versus traditional booking channels will once again be a key focus at the Arabian Travel Market 2013 seminar that will be held at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre on May 6-9, 2013. Organizer Reed Travel Exhibitions will highlight the dramatic shift in consumer mindset over the last 12 months as travellers log on to technology for convenient airline and hotel bookings. The research, which covered online travel trends in 10 Middle East countries from 2010 to 2014, also revealed that regional online travel agencies (OTAs) are expected to grow by 18 percent between now and 2014, with gross booking value set to almost double from $3.1 billion to $5.4 billion in the next two years. “In 2011 alone, there was a 39 percent rise in online bookings in the region, and we are seeing a clear shift from dependence on traditional booking channels to online services as the Middle East traveller becomes more comfortable with using the Internet as a convenient and credible resource,” said Mark Walsh, Portfolio Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions. “Mirroring this sharp rise in the online travel marketplace, floor space in our Technology and Online Wholesalers section for next years show is already 78 percent sold,” he added. “The breakneck pace of technological development is leading the travel industry towards a completely virtual business environment. The ‘human face' of the business needs to be successfully transplanted into the online domain by bringing both personality and functionality into play if companies are to maintain their commercial success moving forward,” said Walsh. Growing confidence in ecommerce sites and the safety of web-based transactions is also prompting an increase in interest in online travel searches, says Wego, which also saw a substantial rise in traffic and transactions following the launch of its parallel Arabic-English platforms earlier this year. “Now that wego.ae is live in Arabic, we have noticed a surge in local hotel searches and interest in a much wider mix of international flights and accommodation to over 600 destinations,” said Ross Veitch, Wego CEO and co-founder. According to Veitch, searches by local users for flights from Abu Dhabi have increased by 120 percent year-on-year, and by 106 percent for Dubai departures. – SG
