Skift Take
In the effort to attract high-spending tourists, states often look overseas. That's a good idea — international visitors typically spend more than domestic travelers. But certain international markets present a more complicated consumer landscape than others. That's what Visit California has discovered as it starts wooing more travelers from the Middle East.
While international tensions simmer, Visit California is extending an olive branch to the Middle East. The action is part of Visit California’s initiative to drive ultra-luxury travel to the state.
The Middle East is one of the fastest growing outbound tourism regions in the world, according to UNWTO’s Tourism Towards 2030. Outbound travel from the region has quadrupled during the past 20 years. The region also delivers big spenders. Per capita outbound tourism spending from the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar) is 6.5 times higher than the global average.
People living in GCC countries are also responsible for 60 percent of Middle Eastern travel to the United States. That's why, when it comes to high-end product, this is a logical market for American luxury marketers to approach.
"A few years ago, we launched a super-affluent initiative. This market is very attractive since it falls squarely within the nexus of the KPIs we are trying to develop," said Caroline Beteta, CEO of Visit California.
In 2018, California welcomed approximately 259,000 Middle East visitors. In 2019, 264,000 Middle Eastern travelers are forecast to visit the state and by 2022, growth in travel from the Middle East is projected to approach 300,000 visitors. Last year, GCC visitors stayed in California an average of 13.5 nights with a mean spend of $2,422 per visit
