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Travel Survey FAQ
Tuesday, 06 May 2008


If you are looking to get a start on this year's ArabianBusiness.com Travel Survey but are not sure where to begin, you've found the right place. In this, the Frequently Asked Questions section, we offer an overview of the results of the survey.


How was the survey conducted?
As with all of our research surveys, this study was marketed only to ArabianBusiness.com readers and subscribers of its newsletters.

The newsletter is sent to over 120,000 readers every day, while the site attracts more than 600,000 visitors each month.

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In total over 500 surveys were completed. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their travel preferences, the general trends of the region and what they feel makes the GCC travel market tick.

So, let's start at the beginning. Just how well travelled are GCC residents?
In general, they are a fairly adventurous bunch. Most respondents had their passports stamped in multiple countries last year. In fact, there's about a one in three chance that those who completed the survey had visited between two and five countries over the last twelve months.

Dicing the data by country of residence, we found that those living in Saudi Arabia were the most frequent travellers with a lucky 4.56% indicating they flew to 21 or more different international destinations last year.

These jet-setting few jumped aboard an international flight at least every two and a half weeks.

Respondents from the UAE could be regarded as the second-most frequent travellers, where 0.48% of respondents travelled to over 21 countries in the past year.

Only around 7% of respondents to the survey who currently reside in the GCC said they did not travel abroad over the past 12 months.


Do GCC residents plan to travel more often?
In a word: Yes! Whether it be for business or pleasure, the majority of respondents told us they intend to travel more over the next year.

When it comes to work-related travel, only around one in ten of those that filled in the survey said they plan to cut back flights, while a resounding majority said they intend to book more tickets, stay in more hotels and spend more time abroad than they did in the last year.

And it's not just for those business trips, either. More than half of respondents said they intend to relax with more international vacations this coming year while, again, only one in ten said they planned to cut back on holiday time.


What do GCC residents look for in a vacation?
Results from the survey indicated that comfort for the family and culture were by far and away the most important part of respondent holidays.

Almost four in five of those who completed the survey cited time with family and cultural offerings as outweighing other considerations such as participating in active sports.

But GCC travellers weren't totally without an adventure streak either.

When it came to the most active holiday makers, those residing in Qatar were the most likely to hit the ski slopes or take a hiking getaway with one in five stating active sports as their primary concern when planning a vacation.

Perhaps not surprisingly, especially given the Gulf's endowment of beautiful beaches, a tiny minority said the beach was high on their list of priorities when choosing a holiday destination.


How do GCC residents like to travel?
If it's for business class respondents are far more likely to travel in style. If travelling for pleasure they are far more price sensitive.

Although Emiraites Airlines was by far and away the preferred carrier of Gulf residents, the survey also indicated that they will consider Gulf's discount carriers to save a few bucks.

More than six in ten of respondents believe discount carriers were the way to go with more than 40% saying they travelled by a budget airline once or twice per year. However, a similar percentage have yet to use a budget airline at all.

Price, along with availability of flights, are still the major concerns when choosing an airline.

However while Gulf travellers can be 'acquired', they don't come cheap. Almost two thirds of respondents (63.79%) said it would take a special discount of between 20-30% to switch from a preferred carrier. A further quarter (23.3%) indicated it would take a discount of 40% to be lured away from their favourite airline.

Less than one in ten (9.3%) said that price was not an issue while just 3.41% indicated they would switch carriers for less than a 10% discount.


Does that mean Gulf travellers don't like to spend money when they holiday?
Not at all...especially if they reside in Kuwait. The oil rich Gulf state was found to have the highest percentage of travelers willing to shell out in excess of $10,000 for their annual holidays.

Results from the study indicated that 64.28% of those residing in Kuwait spend upwards of $5,000 on their annual vacation while 35.71% shell out more than twice that amount.

Those vacationing from Saudi came in next, with 60.47% spending in excess of $5,000 and a further quarter (23.26%) outlaying over $10,000.

Overall, only 4.12% said that price was not important while a lucky 1.43% said cost did not matter at all.


What about length of vacation? Who takes the title as "longest vacationing" GCC state?
That honour goes to Qatar.

Almost half (47.61%) of those surveyed who currently reside in Qatar take at least four weeks off, with around one in six Qatari residents (14.28%) actually manage to get away for between five and six weeks.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, the times, they are a changing, and those long summer breaks are increasingly a thing of the past. The majority said they spend just two weeks on their annual vacation, while a lucky few (0.72%) manage to get away for a couple of months every year.


Do GCC residents care about being green when they travel?
Not as many as the green lobby would have hoped for, and those that would switch airlines to a carbon neutral company, few would be willing to pay much for the privilege of doing so.


Where do I go from here?
Well... You have only just started. Access the data to do analysis of your own, or use our analysis - you can find our stories in the right hand column.

Please also visit our Arabian Travel Market Special Report . The ArabianBusiness.com team will be camped at the show to bring you the stories as they happen.


 
Comments (19 )

Emirates Service
Posted by zooey, Riyadh, KSA on 3 June 2009 at 11:55 UAE time

agree with Mr Nair that only the rewards program encourages me to fly EK, which i do, sometimes reluctantly, but frequently. -so my participation in the survey was coloured only by frequency of flying and not by preference

as for Mr Satish of south africa, similar to you, my friends were travelling from Joburg to Dubai, and had the worst service ever; staff unwilling to do anything, and arrogant when they did. These were 2 young American Muslim girls wearing niqab. They were made to feel very bad by the cabin staff. Maybe it's something about the route?? either Durban or Joburg?
influence of low cost carriers
Posted by jaykrishnan, sharjah, u.a.e. on 17 August 2008 at 11:05 UAE time

LCCs play a major role in increasing Gulf states air travel. an average employee who used to travel to home country once in two year is travelling in every year. A person was flying once in a year has doubled or tripled his trip after the arrival of Low cost carriers.
travel has become in an affordable way to common people.
cannot hide the fact that most of the regions airlines have slashed their ticket price almost to half if not less than that due to increase of seat capacity and competition.
The recent fuel price hikes did not massively effect the price structure of most of the regional carries except very few.
Islamic Travel Sector in Europe
Posted by Step in Time Tours, Birmingham, England on 14 May 2008 at 15:58 UAE time

Although we can see a burgeoning Muslim travel trade increasing in the Middle East. Unfortunately this has overshadowed the importance of re-discovering certain destinations that have been oblivious to the Muslim world. European destinations such as Spain, was a part of the Islamic Empire in the medieval period of history and as a result of this its culture is infused totally with Islamic insertions.

Indeed traveling to Spain and looking at this history provides solutions for many of the ideological problems we have today especially in terms of the so called Clash of Civilisations.

This also provides clearer solutions behind resentment that has increased after 9/11 across the world. Which has lead to the UK's FCO and US State Department earmarked warnings.
Unskilled Workers
Posted by george thomas, dubai, united arab emirates on 13 May 2008 at 02:07 UAE time

"To stem soaring unemployment among nationals". Good idea - but will thousands upon thousands of nationals be queuing up to work on the construction sites?
Most preferred destination
Posted by harsha, dubai, uae on 11 May 2008 at 10:47 UAE time

I had participated in the travel survey. I wanted to know the results of the most preferred destination for holidays. How can I see the same results.

Editor's reply We will release this information shortly.
Travel data
Posted by Zobia, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 11 May 2008 at 09:00 UAE time

Hi I participated in the survey can I see the results of the survey. We sell travel insurance and this will be useful to know how frequently people travel and what is the travel market in UAE.

Editor's Reply Yes, of course. Please visit the results of the survey here.
Travelling to different countries
Posted by Akkalayil Koshy, Dubai, U A E on 11 May 2008 at 08:54 UAE time

Would like to Travel with Family
Rewards Program holds the Key....
Posted by H.Nair, Dubai on 11 May 2008 at 08:49 UAE time

Am a frequelent traveller in Emirates. To bare it all, there is nothing fantastic about travelling in Emirates. Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines every other airline is almost the same. But how these airlines carry themselves (the Marketing strategies) in the eyes of the common traveller, makes them different. If not for the Skywards Flying returns program of Emirates, I dont think i would have travelled with Emirates so often. Just an illustration, my hometown is in the South Coast of India. And as part of my job profile in dubai, i am expected to travel outside dubai at least 10 days a month (and i clock at least 8,000 Miles a month), which means, if i travel in Emirates in economy, for all my business travels, for 3 months, i get a free ticket to my hometown.....that hopefully explains the penchant of almost a majority of Emirates passengers. In my opinion Emirates is an arilines which simply have a superb flying-returns program.
Emirates
Posted by Greg Hodge, Dubai, UAE on 11 May 2008 at 07:28 UAE time

I would agree that Emirates has very good service but only until something goes wrong. They lost my luggage over a month ago and have been very ordinary in their attempts to resolve the issue. A word of warning to travellers make sure that you read all the terms and conditions before you fly with them.
comment
Posted by patrick abou chedid, dubai, uae on 10 May 2008 at 16:28 UAE time

It is true that Emirates Airlines has a high price, but I do have to admit that they have the best service ever...
To Be or Not To Be
Posted by Ferdinand, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 10 May 2008 at 16:05 UAE time

Emirates flies to over 100 destination in 62 countries, most of the travelers know this airlines in Dubai and yet this airline is not the best airline when it comes to service. Most well known, yes.

Its staff really need to be trained for a multi-cultural environment.
Poor service from Emirates
Posted by Sandeep, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 9 May 2008 at 13:37 UAE time

I agree with satish. Emirates standards are falling down once again. I am frequent traveller and previously shifted to cathay Pacific due to bad service on board / rude air hostesses. But again in between last year there was some improvement to go down lately on customer service. i think it depends upon which route you flying, the service is always bad on certain routes like whenflying to India etc.
Try flying cathay pacific its wonderful. people serving onboard are excellent, very helpful, never ignorant.
Emirates popularity not surprising
Posted by John on 9 May 2008 at 11:16 UAE time

Must hand it to Emirates for ensuring it is still the most popular airline despite having one of the worst on-board service and ridiculously high prices. Just goes to show that we still live in a world where consumers choose brand image over comfort and service. Nonetheless, all other aspects of the airline are pretty decent.
Emirates Airlines
Posted by Hombil, Muscat, Oman on 8 May 2008 at 17:52 UAE time

I agree with Satish regarding poor service from Emirates. After many unpleasant experiences, me and my family avoid flying Emirates, unless we have no choice. Wonder, how year after year Emirates end up getting some award or other? Are these awards genuinely earned or bought?
And passing though Dubai airport is concerned, it's another story. We do not like to transit through Dubai for many reasons - unfriendly staff, too crowded, long walks between gates... the list is endless.
service watch
Posted by Kenneth, Dubai, UAE on 8 May 2008 at 15:15 UAE time

I've been flying Emirates since the early 1990s and I have to say I have noticed a decline in service especially on the European routes. the Staff is not as well trained and groomed and the organisation is not as sharp as it used to be... growing fast is great but attention to detail is still important.
Re: Poor Service from Emirates
Posted by Nadeem Raza, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 8 May 2008 at 14:49 UAE time

I do not agree completely here as I travel very frequently with emirates/luftansa/thai/saudi airlines/swiss air etc. and from my experiences, I can say that Emirates is outstanding with Thai as the worst.

Emirates have well maintained aircrafts and hospitable staff, whereas Thai have old aircrafts along with rude staff.

We all differ with our likes and dislikes, and that's why everything sells in this world.
Emirates
Posted by Ajith, UAE on 8 May 2008 at 13:49 UAE time

Emirates may be the popular airline, but the worst in service. The ground and air staffs' attitude borders on arrogance esp towards passengers whom they consider non worthy. I was offloaded once at the boarding gate in Dubai airport as, as per Emirates staffer i wasn't eligible for visa on arrival in Qatar.

The person asked me 'do you live in dubai?' and when I said yes, the reply was 'you can at least go home'. I called up Qatar airways airport office and the person there accommodated me in the next Qatar airways flight after getting authorization for a visa on arrival in Doha!

I never travel Emirates, prefers Qatar or Sri Lankan which are much better airlines.
Poor service from Emirates
Posted by Satish, Durban, South Africa on 8 May 2008 at 11:46 UAE time

I've flown with Emirates in January 2008, was very disappointed.
All flights were delayed, the service was not what I expected on-board.We were flying with our 1 year old baby and the hostesses never considered our situation, all meals were brought at once. Friendliness - can't comment on that, I had better response flying SAA and Delta.
Length of vacations
Posted by Mohammed Azizi, Dubai, UAE on 5 May 2008 at 18:34 UAE time

Really interesting to see the average length of a vacation seems now to be around two weeks. I guess those long summer months when there was little point to be in the region have gone. I am not sure if that's a good thing or not... but I will certainly miss that stress free month....
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