The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has emerged as one of the main regions driving growth in affluent travel, recording high spends, while also displaying an appetite for sustainable eco-luxury and meaningful cultural experiences. Mastercard’s latest report, ‘Affluent Travel: A Middle East Perspective’, released during the Arabian Travel Market 2024, unpacks some of the key trends.
The appetite for new experiences in unexplored destinations, micro-trips and ‘bleisure’ will likely drive the growth of the global luxury travel market, which is expected to grow by 7.9% (CAGR) between 2024 and 2030, according to Grand View Research. High-net-worth travelers contribute approximately 36% of the global spend on travel as stated in a Jones Lang LaSalle study.
“At Mastercard, we are committed to connecting people to their passion for travel. This report gives a great snapshot of how high-net-worth individuals choose to travel, and it’s wonderful to see sustainability, cultural immersion and purpose as key considerations, along with quality accommodation, seamless technology and loyalty benefits.” said Amnah Ajmal, Executive Vice President, Market Development EEMEA, Mastercard.
As per YouGov research, over a third (36%) of luxury travelers say they want to experience different cultures. The combination of business and leisure, or ‘bleisure’, is also resulting in more remote-work trips as digital nomads change the face of travel. Affluent travelers are almost twice as likely as the global average to have taken a vacation as an extension to a business trip. Furthermore, Marriott Bonvoy research also showed that solo travel is being embraced, with 70% of respondents in the UAE and 69% in Saudi Arabia saying they’ve travelled solo.
Other key findings include:
Seeking out sustainable credentials and authentic eco-luxury
Meaningful experiences over material things
Personalization, privacy and pampering
High-spending loyalty supporters
As wealth migrates to younger generations, Millennials (aged 30 to 44 years) now comprise the highest percentage of luxury seekers, followed by Gen Z (aged 15 to 29). Within the GCC, however, Gen X (aged 43 to 58 years) is expected to make the highest contribution to travel growth, according to Arabian Travel Market. While much of the world is still catching up to pre-pandemic travel levels, MENA is the only region to show airport arrivals at 22% above 2019 numbers. According to the World Tourism Barometer, specific destinations such as Qatar (+90%) and Saudi Arabia (+56%) have contributed to this surge.
