The study is based on an examination of over four million social media postings and comments from over two million Arabic-speaking unique users in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The company utilized AI technology to measure tourism trends in the GCC by
monitoring over 4 million social media posts from two million unique Arabic-speaking social media accounts in the region between 2019 and 2021. The data suggests that the number of travel chats and postings regarding travel climbed by 110 percent and 151 percent, respectively.
Paul Kelly, Managing Partner, D/A, remarked on the ATM Global Stage: “Travel conversations increased to over 1.3 million in 2021, underscoring the willingness by Arabic speakers in the GCC to travel, regardless of age or nationality. We are ultimately witnessing the pent-up demand from the last two years coming to the fore as borders reopen, flights are back on track and restrictions are lifted.”
Interestingly, GCC tourists play an important role in tourism revival because of their purchasing power. According to the UNWTO, GCC tourists spend 6.5 times more than the world average, with 40% of them spending more than €9551on their most recent trip to Europe, making them the highest travel spenders globally. In other words, the future of travel and hospitality industries depends on the travelers from the Gulf more than ever.
