Saudi, UAE travellers top in using smartphones to book a trip
DUBAI
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More than 34 per cent of travellers from Saudi Arabia and UAE book their flights using their smartphones, according to Destinia, an international online travel agency with offices in Dubai, Egypt and Spain.
This was compared with only 12 per cent from Germany, 11 per cent of travellers from Portugal and 10 per cent from Spain.
About 35 per cent of travellers from Saudi Arabia and 32 per cent from the UAE also use their smartphones the most when making hotel reservations, it said in a research.
The research was revealed at a panel discussion at Arabnet 2015 in Riyadh with the chief international officer of Destinia, Ricardo Fernández and followed the announcement that Destinia has expanded its presence in the Middle East by planning to open an office in Saudi Arabia by next year.
It further revealed that the mobile travel reservation is on the rise with 21 per cent average of bookings made at Destinia this year compared to 15 per cent in 2014.
Hotels are the best-selling product as 22 per cent of hotel reservations are made by mobile devices, as opposed to 16 per cent of flight reservations, although there are several differences by markets.
The research showed figures about bookings and spend profile from a selection of countries: Spain, France, United Kingdom; United States, Italy, Japan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Brazil.
Travellers from Saudi Arabia are also spending more money than those from Europe, US or Japan with an average of SR1,851 ($493) being spent on flights and SR2,031 spent on hotels.​
The research also showed that travellers from Saudi Arabia and UAE generally book their trips at the last minute whereas the average lead time of mobile reservations has increased from 18 days in 2014 to 22 days this year, the lead time for travellers from the Saudi Arabia and UAE is 18 days and nine days respectively when booking a flight.
“Mobile bookings are increasing at an astonishing rate in every travel sector facet and this research demonstrates how innovative and tech savvy travellers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE are," said Fernández.
"We are very excited to expand our presence and open an office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as it is a young and rapidly expanding population and currently leads the Middle East economy. This recent research is further evidence that the expansion will be a great opportunity for us to support this growing market,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service
