Middle East Travel Players Warm to Collaboration as Competition Heats Up
Photo Credit: From left: Rob Torres, Expedia Group Media; Thomas Meier, Jumeirah Group; Adel El Fakir, Moroccan National Tourism Office; and Rafat Ali, Skift, speaking at Skift Global Forum East in Dubai on Dec.14. Skift
Skift Take
The Middle East region is known for its competitiveness. But we are about to see a softening where more brands are willing to collaborate and cooperate in a bid to capture the imagination of more tourists worldwide.
In some ways the Middle East is a victim of its own success: It weathered the pandemic relatively well, and the luxury market proved resilient. But now as tourism to the region swiftly recovers, the challenge is how do brands operating there stand out when inter-regional competition is so fierce?
Expedia, for example, wants to leverage its data to help destinations branch out, and draw tourists to locations outside the traditional hotspots.
“[Travelers] aren't just looking for large cities, they want to know about culture, UNESCO sites, that’s where we can help expose secondary cities,” said Rob Torres, senior vice president of Expedia Group Media Solutions, speaking at the inaugural Skift Global Forum East event in Dubai on Wednesday.
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