DUBAI 9 August 2018: When searching online for things to do during the forthcoming Eid Al Adha holiday, UAE residents favour staycations, according to new research by SEMrush, a digital marketing suite.
Its latest data into UAE residents’ holiday habits revealed that the each year 200,000 online searches for domestic holidays relating to Eid vacations are made by UAE residents.
The UAE’s domestic tourism market is set to continue increasing annually, with forecasts by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) revealing domestic tourism spend will grow from the current US$10 billion level to $15 billion by 2027.
Domestic UAE travel spend generated 24 per cent of direct Travel & Tourism GDP last year, generating huge economic impact for the country’s constantly-maturing tourism sector.
“The UAE spends nearly $2 billion a year on advertising in general and domestic marketers must further fine tune their digital marketing strategies to capture the lucrative domestic tour-ism market,,” commented Adam Zeidan, Corporate Communications Manager for SEMrush in GCC & Turkey. “These marketers must differentiate themselves from competitors by us-ing online SEO coupled with competitive intelligence tools.”
The UAE has launched a number of new initiatives to boost the travel and tourism across the country, including multi-billion dollar investments in theme parks, diverse tourism attractions, hotels and expansive development of heritage and culture areas across all seven emirates.
“With the vast majority of the UAE’s nine million population being expatriates, the initiatives to expand the tourism sector with attractive new offerings may yet entice many expat residents to explore cost effective holiday options inside the UAE, especially for those with families,” added Zeidan.