Skift Take
In old-school business wisdom, the large eat the small. Today the truism is that the fast eat the slow. No wonder Almosafer is looking to outrun the regional and global competition in Saudi Arabia and a couple of its bordering countries.
Saudi Arabia's largest online travel agency, Almosafer, hopes the kingdom's online travel market will stage a furious comeback from its pandemic collapse, lifted first by record domestic Saudi leisure tourism and followed by a pickup in demand for international leisure travel later.
A new survey of more than 2,100 Saudi nationals and about 900 other nationalities has highlighted the dynamics at play. Released on Wednesday by Almosafer, the study found that about 83 percent of surveyed consumers were planning to travel internationally this year, mostly for vacation. Top desired spots include Sarajevo, Dubai, Cairo, and the Maldives.
Saudi Arabia historically struggled to win over both domestic and international tourists due to societal limitations, including a strict no-drinking policy and restrictions for women. Riyadh hadn't welcomed international tourists for so long that its infrastructure remained underdeveloped. Even locals complained of a lack of venues.
Until last year, authorities forbid local restaurants and malls from playing music. Although officials eased some of these restrictions, much of that doesn't apply to residents. Because the local culture doesn't allow for much intermingling between the sexes, most Saudis enjoy the freedoms of being in unknown territories in cities such as Dubai, Cairo, London, or Paris.
Yet the post-pandemic reset in travel could be the start of a multi-year boom for travel businesses in the Gulf region.
Almosafer Looks Ahead for Saudi Travel
Gains in online technology will speed up a Saudi shift to online bookings, with an expected compound annual growth rate of about 28 percent in the next few
