Twitter reveals consumer insights pertaining to international travel

As summer rapidly approaches, many in the region look to escape the weather over vacations to international destinations. Where previously trips were on hold due to the pandemic, the demand for travel is now on the rise as people venture out for new international travel experiences.

In a Twitter Insights Survey commissioned in May this year, the platform asked audiences in Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) a range of questions regarding their summer travel plans to understand the sentiment around travel and their priorities when booking a trip. The findings revealed some interesting insights into people’s perspectives, with top highlights shared below:

Consumers are on the move and are craving novel experiences 

Over half of those surveyed in KSA and the UAE are motivated to travel to escape from everyday life and encounter new experiences. 

33% of people in Saudi Arabia don’t know how they feel about travel in 2022 against 31% who are confident to hop on a plane and travel, while 56% of people in the UAE are confident about traveling.

Family travel matters more than ever

After two years of missing milestone occasions such as weddings, birthdays and graduations, people don’t want to lose another moment with the people they love. The most popular reason for people in KSA to travel this summer is for a family holiday (46%), which matched the sentiments of over 51% respondents in the UAE. 

Travelers remain price conscious 

In a question on key factors that would eliminate specific travel destinations from travel plans, the most popular reason for KSA residents was high expenses at the destination (46%) closely followed by ticket prices (40%). 

Surprisingly, these ranked above safety (35%), geopolitical situations (29%) and public health (19%). UAE residents differed in their opinion by placing safety as their number one factor (39%), closely followed by ticket prices (36%), geopolitical situations (35%) and high expenses at the destination (35%). In fact, public health ranked as one of the lowest threats to travel plans for UAE respondents, at 24%. 

Demand for short-haul flights continues to grow

People displayed mixed reactions to a question on which is the most appealing destination. Individuals in KSA identified Dubai to hold the highest appeal (24%) with Switzerland as a close second (17%). Asia (25%) and Turkey (23%) were the most popular picks in the UAE.

Last minute getaways remain popular

Travel at short notice proved the most common lead time for booking, where most people in the UAE said they would book a trip around a month in advance (33%) and people in KSA said they would book less than two weeks ahead of their travel (30%).

Interestingly, on the likelihood of international travel this summer, only 4% of people in KSA have already booked flights while 48% said they are unlikely to travel. On the other hand, 21% of people in the UAE have already booked flights and 50% said they are likely to travel in summer this year, suggesting a significant difference in overall confidence between the two surveyed markets.

Brand loyalty matters

75% of people in both markets said that the price of the ticket is the most important criteria when choosing an airline. The most popular passenger carriers for people’s next trip abroad were Saudi Airlines for people in KSA (67%) and Emirates for people in UAE (79%).