This rapidly growing market is increasingly catching the attention of the Southern African tourism industry on account of their long trips and high spend. Sue van Winsen finds out more about Middle Eastern travellers.

Growth of Middle Eastern arrivals into South Africa was sluggish last year, which is largely attributable to the introduction of the country’s controversial visa laws. In 2014, a total of 38 932 Middle Eastern travellers entered SA and this grew by a marginal 1.4% to 39 482 in 2015.

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Despite the marginal growth shown in 2015, the trade are confident that this market could recover strongly, especially in light of changes to SA’s visa regime and increased marketing efforts within the region.

The Middle East is the world’s fastest-growing outbound market, according to the results of IPK International’s World Travel Monitor, which showed that well-off travellers from the region tend to take long, expensive trips, while spending heavily on upmarket accommodation, shopping and entertainment.

The average trip duration is long, at 14 nights, with between 30 and 40 days a year available for holidays during which they like to indulge in various entertainment options – shopping in particular.  Senior VP and Director of Travel and Logistics for ITB Berlin, Messe Berlin, Martin Buck, says: “The Middle East outbound market is developing into a lucrative niche market.” He adds that there is plenty of growth potential for this market in the coming years, particularly for destinations that offer the right kind of product and services that high-spending Arabian travellers are seeking.

Rob Hetem, director of Tamrich Tours, says travel is part of their culture and it’s not unusual for Middle Eastern travellers to go on three to four long-haul trips a year. The main markets that are showing interest in Southern African travel include the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. He says the airlines that operate routes into Southern Africa do a considerable amount of marketing and promotional drives through the distribution of collateral, and that Southern African countries could be doing a lot more to leverage off this “free advertising” in the Gulf countries.

He adds that one of the benefits of the Middle Eastern market is that they travel outside South Africa’s usual peak season, in the winter months. An Amadeus study, Shaping the Future of Travel in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), says: “The period from July to September is the main travel season. During these months, which coincide with school holidays and extreme summer heat, outbound travel is high.”

Family travel on the rise

The Amadeus study also states that there is a strong orientation towards family in the region, manifested through large family sizes. “The ideal number of children in a family is around four, higher than the 2.5 in high-income countries across the world.” It is estimated that nearly 70% of Middle Eastern leisure travellers prefer to travel with family and friends due to a greater sense of security and fewer language barriers. These findings were echoed in the World Travel Monitor, which said that, in 2014, more than one-third of trips were taken with children.

According to a survey completed by online market research company, YouGov, Middle Eastern families with young children under the age of 12 tend to travel more often than those with 13- to 18-year-olds, taking three or more trips annually. Those with younger children tended to seek out destinations with lots of activities on offer, theme parks, and a good attitude to children, while those with older children wanted all-inclusive options, decent flight times and access to shopping.

Big spenders

According to the Amadeus report, outbound visitors from the Gulf region spent US$64 billion globally on travel in 2015, and is expected to grow to US$94 billion in 2020 and US140 billion in 2025. Hetem explains that Middle Eastern travellers are extremely discerning when it comes to their travel spend. “They spend a lot of money on shopping and eating out, which means not only the traditional travel sectors benefit, but the retail channel too. We can see from the extras billed to their hotels that they are spending a lot more than what is included in the typical travel package.” According to the World Travel Monitor, the average spend per person per night is about €200 (US$223), which means that the average cost of a trip per person totals about €2 800 (US$3 120).

The report also said the market was driven by factors such as culture, entertainment, accessibility and the desire to visit cities. “With a high proportion of young couples, families and also more women travelling from the region, entertainment, shopping and other leisure activities are popular destination activities.” Wealthy Middle Eastern travellers are also taking trips for health-related reasons accompanied by a large number of family members. YouGov found that the top reasons for travel were visiting friends and family (29%), resort or beach holidays (25%), Eid holiday travel (17%), shopping (15%), natural holidays (14%), city breaks (11%) and sightseeing (9%).

Staying in one place

Unusually, Middle Eastern travellers tend to avoid moving around too much on a trip, and are not used to travelling great distances. Hetem explains that many Middle Eastern travellers favour stand-alone destinations like London, Paris and Miami, so getting them to expand their repertoire and include other tourist spots around the country can be extremely difficult, especially on account of their propensity to travel with significant amounts of luggage. “We are currently trying to get travellers to extend their travel as far as Plettenberg Bay, and including the Garden Route in their itineraries,” adds Hetem.

Safari is also not a significant drawcard for this market, who prefer to make the most of a destination’s retail and restaurant offering. “As the shopping in the Middle East is spectacular, they expect retail to be on the same level when they travel,” Hetem says.