Wego Travel Pulse “Covid-19 & MENA Traveller Intent” 19 January 2021

MENA Key Highlights

• Travel search interest increased to half of 2019 levels thanks to a surge in the first full week of 2021
• The reopening of travel between Qatar and other GCC countries along with the partial lifting of travel restrictions in KSA on 4th January led to a surge in travel activity within MENA
• With the exception of the UAE and Lebanon, the health situation appears to be improving across MENA
• In UAE, the rise in case numbers is largely a result of the increased testing. In Lebanon the health situation remains dire
• Two Middle East countries are currently the top countries worldwide in vaccine deployment – UAE and Bahrain

GCC: Travel Pulse

GCC:  TOP Destinations

Travel Demand from KSA

• The lifting of travel ban on 4th January and the reopening of flights to Qatar on 11th January led to a surge in travel interest in early January
• The increase from the lifting of travel sanctions is widely spread across most international destinations 
• Interest in travel to Qatar skyrocketed from practically non-existent to among the top 20 destinations
• While majority of interest is for travel within the next few days, we are already starting to see a peak forming for travel on 1st April when KSA is scheduled to fully lift travel restrictions

COVID Trends in KSA

• The health situation remains stable and good with KSA continuing to be the only MENA country meeting all EU criteria
• Data on vaccinations is still not updated on a daily basis but is likely to start be regularly published very soon
• The health ministry launched “health passport” service in order to keep track of COVID-19 vaccination records

Travel Demand from UAE

• Domestic hotel stays continue to be the major growth driver, accounting for more bookings than all international destinations combined.  Interest in stays was particularly strong around New Years’ Eve
• The top 7 hotel destinations continue to all be within the UAE: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras al Khaimah, Sharjah, Fujairah, Ajman, and Al Ain
• The resumption of flights to Qatar, led to a major surge in activity for Doha yet not enough to significantly boost the overall flights numbers which remain less than 40% of 2019 levels

COVID Trends in UAE

• Test positivity rate continues to be excellent suggesting the health situation remains under control. Yet case numbers have been spiking recently due to the influx of foreigners and the increased testing at the border 
• With 13 vaccinations per 100 people, UAE has the second highest vaccination density in the world with numbers rapidly increasing on a daily basis
• UAE government announced aggressive targets for level of vaccinations by the end of Q1 

Travel Demand from Kuwait

• Despite a partial lifting of travel restrictions on 3rd January, interest for travel remains largely mute 
• Cairo continues to be the top flight-only destination thanks to the large diaspora of Egyptians working in Kuwait while Dubai and Istanbul are tied for the top spot among international leisure destinations

COVID Trends in Kuwait

• Late 2020 saw a major improvement in the health statistics in Kuwait. While the trend has reversed in early 2021, the situation continues to be significantly better than during most of last year
• No daily data on vaccinations is yet available though a number of vaccination centers now operate as well as mobile vaccination units

Travel Demand from Kuwait

• Despite a partial lifting of travel restrictions on 3rd January, interest for travel remains largely mute 
• Cairo continues to be the top flight-only destination thanks to the large diaspora of Egyptians working in Kuwait while Dubai and Istanbul are tied for the top spot among international leisure destinations

COVID Trends in Kuwait

• Late 2020 saw a major improvement in the health statistics in Kuwait. While the trend has reversed in early 2021, the situation continues to be significantly better than during most of last year
• No daily data on vaccinations is yet available though a number of vaccination centers now operate as well as mobile vaccination units

Travel Demand from Qatar

• The news on the reopening of borders, led to KSA immediately jumping to the 5th top destination and certain to climb further as actual flights only started on 11th January
• Despite increase in flight activity, it is domestic staycations that continue to be the main driver for travel
• Even with interest in international hotel stays surging in the past few days, domestic stays continue to exceed the sum of all international destinations. By the time of the next Travel Pulse, this may no longer be true

COVID Trends in Qatar

• The COVID situation continues to be stable and not far from EU’s safe requirements 
• No daily data on vaccinations is available as of yet

Travel Demand from Bahrain

• Interest in international flights surged over the last week due to increased demand for travel between KSA and Bahrain and is now at the highest point since the start of the pandemic
• Dubai continues to be by far the most popular international destination for hotel stays

COVID Trends in Bahrain

• Bahrain ranks third in the world by number of vaccination doses per 100 people thanks to a strong vaccination push by the government
• The test positivity rate continues to be good suggesting the health situation is largely under control despite increase in case numbers
• New cases continue to be high as a result of the high rate of testing and catching a lot of the asymptomatic cases

Travel Demand from Oman

• Interest in staycations continues to be strong attracting double the traffic of all international destinations combined
• The capital city of Muscat remains the top accommodation destination though cities like Sohar, Salalah, and Mussanah are also attracting sizeable traffic
• Dubai and Istanbul remain closely tied for the top international leisure destination 

COVID Trends in Oman

• The number of new cases has continued to improve through December almost reaching EU safe levels
• Lack of data on testing leaves uncertainty about the overall health situation in Oman
• Health authorities have started publishing daily data on vaccinations though the numbers are still low to have a meaningful effect on the population at large

North Africa: Travel Pulse

North Africa: Top Destinations

Travel Demand from Egypt

• The partial lifting of travel restrictions in KSA led to a major surge in travel interest peaking at four times of 2019 levels on the day of the announcement
• Saudi Arabia alone accounts to the total interest in travel among all other destinations also including Egypt domestic
• The first full week of 2021 saw an increase in travel interest to long-haul destinations such as Canada and Philippines

COVID Trends in Egypt

• The density of new cases in official statistics remains extremely good by both MENA and global standards.  Data on testing would help with assessment of the true state of the pandemic
• A number of vaccinations are already set-up and operation though given the size of the population, no material is expected before the second half of 2021

Travel Demand from Tunisia

• Interest in flights has remained relatively strong despite a continuously increasing case numbers 
• KSA partially lifting travel restrictions on 4th January, led to a major surge to Riyadh and Jeddah around the day of the announcement 

COVID Trends in Tunisia

• Case numbers continue to spike indicating the health situation is not yet under control
• Tunisia stopped reporting on testing data in October. Daily data on vaccination is also not yet available

Travel Demand from Morocco

• While the government has decided to extend the emergency situation till mid February, interest in flights remains strong due to people traveling for essential work and family-related reasons
• Domestic flights as well as international flights to/from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Spain remain at levels close to 2019

COVID Trends in Morocco

• Both new cases and test positivity are now rapidly improving from the mid-November highs
• No daily stats on vaccination are available as of yet 

Travel Demand from Algeria

• While travel remains largely mute, the softening in movement restrictions has boosted domestic travel since December. The capital city of Algiers continues to see a strong interest 
• International travel continues to be largely depressed

COVID Trends in Algeria

• The number of new cases continues to be excellent, however, the lack on visibility on testing remains a critical point in validating Algeria’s success in handling the health situation

Turkey & Levant: Travel Pulse

Turkey: Top Destinations

Travel Demand from Turkey

• Despite case numbers still high and international politics, international flights have remained at a respectable level thanks to travel to/from KSA remaining strong
• With case numbers significantly lower from the dramatic highs of December, Turkey ended the weekend curfew on 11th January that can help boost domestic travel

COVID Trends in Turkey

• Both test positivity and new case numbers came significantly down from the December peaks

Levant: Top Destinations

 

Travel Demand from Lebanon

• The health situation in Lebanon continues to be dire and worsening muting any interest in travel
• A 25-day nationwide lockdown was announced on 7th January in another attempt to slow down the pandemic

 

COVID Trends in Lebanon

• Lebanon now has the worst level of new COVID cases in MENA and one of the worst in the world
• Further complicating the health situation is a fragile political state of affairs and a tough economic situation

Travel Demand from Jordan

• The partial lifting of travel restriction in KSA, led to a surge in travel interest propeling KSA to the top destination from Jordan while also pushing international flight to the highest level since the start of the pandemic

COVID Trends in Jordan

• The health situation in Jordan continues to be rapidly improving and is poised to reach EU safe levels by mid February  
• Jordan began vaccinations on 13th January