2017 insights report travel - cleartrip...cleartrip’s 2017 travel insights report dives deep into...

2017 INSIGHTS REPORT TRAVEL

Cleartrip’s 2017 Travel Insights Report dives deep into dominant travel trends in the Gulf Cooperation Council markets. From booking behaviours to top travel destinations, the comprehensive report captures the travel path of the region’s yearning travellers

TRAVEL

OVERVIEW

Cleartrip | 2017 Travel Insights

L E A D T I M EMost travellers in GCC prefer to book their tickets within a week ahead of their trips

M O B I L E B O O K I N G SMobile bookings in Saudi Arabia jumped up 116% in2017

M A R K E T G R O W T HOnline travel sector in Kuwait expanded at a year-on-year growth rate of 19% in 2017

TRAVEL RECAP

As booking habits of travellers continue to evolve, market dynamics keep changing. Get a deep understanding of travel trends in different markets


IT’S A GOOD TIME

TO FLY

Ticket pricing varied between different origin and destination cities in 2017. Jeddah-Dubai marked the biggest decrease with a 28% drop in travel fares, followed by Beirut-Dubai that saw a price decline of 21% during the year

-28%Jeddah-Dubai

-21%Beirut-Dubai


-28%

-21%-16%

-14%

-15%

-14%

*% change as compared to 2016

Jeddah -

Dubai

Beirut -

Dubai

Sharjah-

Kochi

Dubai-

Trivandrum

Abu Dhabi-

Kolkata

Dubai-

Addis Ababa

OMANSAUDI ARABIA

-2%

-5%-21%

2%

2%KUWAIT

BAHRAINUAE

2017AVERAGE

TICKET PRICE

Different markets in the GCC region witnessed airfare fluctuations in 2017 with average prices dropping 21% in Saudi Arabia and 5% in Oman, as compared to 2016



AVERAGE TRIP DURATION

How long are the trips booked on Cleartrip?

An average trip duration of up to 6 days represented 27% of all trips made in 2017, while 18% of trips booked on Cleartrip lasted for 35 days and more


7-13 DAYS

35+ DAYS

0-6 DAYS

20%

27%18%

21%

13%14-20 DAYS

21-34 DAYS

Which is the best time to travel?

With summer holidays, travel peaked in August, followed by July in 2017, while October and November recorded the least number of trips

Aug to Jul

Oct to Nov

0.74

0.71

0.70

0.78

0.77

0.74

0.94

0.84

0.69

0.69 0.

72

1.00

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

TOP TRAVEL MONTHS


*Numbers represent travel relative to the highest point on the chart for the given time period.

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

WHO LOVES A DEAL?

Credit cards top payment methods of choice for the region’s travellers. But new trends are emerging as debit cards become a popular option for online payments in Saudi Arabia


BAHRAIN

13%KUWAIT

19%OMAN

4%SAUDI ARABIA

13%UAE

20%Do travellers in the region crave deals?

Cleartrip data shows 20% of travellers in the UAE prefer promotions and deals

PREFERRED PAYMENT METHOD

SAUDI ARABIA

70%Credit Cards

2.1%Other

28%Debit Cards

UAE

81%Credit Cards

6.3%Other

13%Debit Cards

DEVICE AFFINITY While it is true that desktop is still the most popular platform for travellers to make their bookings, mobile is increasingly becoming the device of choice for travellers in the region, where smartphone penetration is higher than the global average


LAST MINUTE FLIGHT BOOKINGZERO DAY RUSH

GCC

How far in advance do travellers in the GCC book their trips?

Data shows a majority of bookings occurred within a week prior to travel dates

Desktop

1 Day

11%

15%

2 - 7Days

30%

33%

8 - 14Days

14%

14%

15 - 21Days

9%

8%

22 - 28Days

7%

6%

29 - 56Days

15%

13%

57+Days

14%

11%Mobile


Customers that book less than 7 days in advance - 2 in 5

1 Day

12%

18%

2 - 7Days

33%

39%

8 - 14Days

15%

15%

15 - 21Days

9%

8%

22 - 28Days

6%

5%

29 - 56Days

13%

9%

57+Days

11%

6%

Are Saudis fond of last-minute booking?

More than 57% of travel bookings via mobile devices in the Kingdom took place within seven days before departure

Desktop

Mobile


Customers that book less than 7 days in advance - 2 in 5

LAST MINUTE FLIGHT BOOKINGZERO DAY RUSH

KSA

SAUDI ARABIA

31%

+116%

Transactions

Increase

UAE

25%Transactions

+61%Increase

KUWAIT

+12%Increase

32%Transactions

OMAN

+55%Increase

31%Transactions

BAHRAIN

+25%Increase

29%Transactions

MOBILE TRANSACTIONS


Transactions made on mobile devices have been on the rise in the region with Saudi Arabia marking a 116% increase in 2017 whilst Kuwait grew by only 12%


BOOKINGSDISTRIBUTION

Bookings from mobile devices were the highest in Riyadh at 32% closely followed by Jeddah at 31%

MUSCAT

ABU DHABI

KUWAIT CITY

SHARJAH

RIYADH

DUBAI

DAMMAM

JEDDAH

74%

78%

70%

75%

68%

78%

74%

69%

26%

22%

30%

25%

32%

22%

26%

31%


Desktop Mobile

Kuwait recorded the highest average fare per booking in 2017 and Oman had lowest in the region

AVERAGE FARE PER BOOKING


$$

$$$$

$$

$$

1422

500

1000

1500

2000

$ 38

7

$ 34

7

$ 43

0

$ 42

0

$ 28

0

$ 25

7

$ 39

6

$ 36

0

$ 33

3

$ 29

4BAHRAIN KUWAIT OMAN SAUDI

ARABIAUAE

Mobile

Website

TOP DESTINATIONSHome to a large population of travellers with a desire to explore new places, taste new flavours, and learn new cultures, the GCC witnessed marked differences in trending destinations in 2017


THE MOST TRENDING DESTINATIONS

Yerevan 498%

TOP 5 DESTINATIONS

Tbilisi 210%

Kathmandu 207%


INDIA REST OF THE WORLDKochi DubaiMumbai SharjahKozhikode Manila Trivandrum Abu Dhabi New Delhi Cairo

*Based on itineraries that include a toddler or child

Sialkot 180%

Khartoum 161%

Addis Ababa 158%

Multan 153%

Sarajevo 130%

Bucharest 107%

TOP FAMILY TRAVELDESTINATIONS

Amman

Tbilisi

Beirut

London

Bangkok

Goa

Istanbul

Baku

Paris

ECONOMICS


All signs are showing that Saudi Arabia will continue to see very strong growth for airlines in the next five years with solid capacity growth facilitated by local airlines and new entrants in the market

How has the year 2017 been for the region’s air travel industry?

Kuwait’s travel market saw the biggest growth of 19% followed by Saudi Arabia which jumped up by 14%

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Kuwait

Oman

Bahrain

*% change as compared to 2016. Market data growth estimates are from internal aggregated sources

OVERALL MARKET GROWTH

+19%

-1%

-3%

+14%

+3%


THANK YOU!

LOOK FORWARD TO OUR H1 2018 INSIGHTS REPORT

PUBLISHING IN AUGUST 2018 Special thanks to:Adnan AshrafMatthew SliedrechtNeeraj GoswamiSneha Abraham

Legal DisclaimerAny exploitation and usage which is not explicitly allowed by copyright law, in particular reproduction, translation, storage in electronic database, on the internet and copying of this research requires prior consent of Cleartrip MEA FZ LLC.

All information contained in this publication has been researched and compiled from sources believed to be accurate and reliable at the time of publishing.However, in view of the natural scope for human and/or mechanical error, either at source or during production, Cleartrip accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss or damage resulting from errors, inaccuracies or omissions affecting any part of the publication. All information is provided without warranty, Cleartrip or their affiliates make no representation of warranty of any kind as to the accuracy or completeness of any information hereto contained.

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