(Photo handout to the Daily News Egypt)
Arabian Travel Market (ATM), a leading regional industry showcase, welcomed over 2,700 exhibiting companies for the 22nd annual edition. YouGov revealed new data on MENA family travel trends, as an in-depth study highlights preferences for destinations with theme park activities, shopping and child-friendly environment.
The results of YouGov’s latest Family Travel study, announced on the first day of ATM 2015, show that 64% of over 2,000 MENA-based survey respondents travelled with their children in the last 12 months, and almost two-thirds (62%) prefer online booking channels.
The theme for this year’s research for the ATM is family travel, revealing that families are taking an average of two trips per year. The survey shows several reasons for family travel, such as visiting friends/family (29%), resort/beach holiday (25%), Eid holiday travel (17%) and shopping (15%).
“In terms of destinations, the pattern is not drastically different from those travelling without family, with large concentrations of family travellers visiting the UAE and Europe,” said Scott Booth, Research Director & Head of Travel, Tourism and Leisure for YouGov ME presenting the research results.
“Those who are married, with or without children, are more likely to have visited Egypt or India on their last leisure trip. Those married with children are more likely to have visited the UAE on their last trip, compared to those married without children,” he added.
As for accommodation preferences, four or five-star hotels or friend/family homes were most preferred by 31% with 29% of survey respondents looking specifically for city centre locations. However, the availability of family suites/villas interests most parents of 13-18 years old, with 17% choosing to stay in hotel apartments. Reasonable costs were also cited in the research as an important consideration for family groups.
