The definitive guide to where we went in 2017
▶ Exclusively to The National, Google Mena reveals this year’s most popular travel search queries from the UAE. Rosemary Behan reports
Where did you go in 2017? According to Google, which has just released data showing the 10 most popular travel searches in the UAE, you’re most likely to have visited, or at least planned on visiting, France. Its algorithm, which has revealed the most popular travel searches for this year, indicates that this was followed by Turkey, Egypt, Greece, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Armenia, Montenegro and Cambodia – in that order.
The list offers a fascinating insight into travel trends in the UAE and the travel habits of you, the leisure traveller, who is influenced by a combination of global trends, geography, the expansion of networks by the world’s best airlines, and, it seems, a strongly adventurous streak. Also in the background is the fact that in general, tourism, the world’s biggest industry, continues to grow strongly year-onyear. According to the most recent data from the Madrid-based World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), between January and August this year, destinations worldwide welcomed 901 million tourist arrivals, 56 million more than the same period of last year – a robust increase of 7 per cent.
Travel to Europe, already the world’s most visited region, recorded an 8 per cent overall increase in tourist numbers, with many Mediterranean destinations reporting double-digit growth.
In this way, it is perhaps not surprising that France, which is, and has been for decades, the world’s most visited country, tops Google’s UAE list.
According to UNWTO, tourism to France has grown by 7.5 per cent this year, up from a total of 82.6 million in 2016. There is a particular rush to France in the long summer months, when those travelling on Schengen visas are able to travel to a number of Continental European countries on one visa, so from France, travels are easily continued to next-door countries such as Germany, Spain, Belgium and Italy. The opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi this year could also have caused a spike in bilateral tourism.
Turkey, next on the list, is also no surprise even given recent political events, which have taken place outside of the country’s extensive holiday resorts. The country offers a halal, family-friendly atmosphere in a Mediterranean setting, in addition to numerous cultural attractions. Frequent, relatively low-cost air routes and a four-hour flight time make it a no-brainer for many.
According to UNWTO data, although Turkey has slipped to 10th in the list of the world’s most visited countries, down from number 6 in 2015, numbers are up by 31 per cent year-on-year to this year, from a still-respectable total of 30.3 million last year.
Egypt, too, has proved similarly robust, though recent terrorist attacks may yet dent an impressive 52 per cent increase in tourist numbers so far this year. So strong was Egypt’s recovery from the negative results in previous years, through improved security, promotional efforts and increased confidence, that until October at least, the country had been driving tourism growth in the whole of the Middle East. What seems clear, not least from Google’s data, is that Middle East-based travellers are in any case less sensitive to negative news events than those in the West.
Moving on further down the list, Greece was also popular, as a destination for affordable Mediterranean beach breaks and cultural trips to Athens, again, just a four-hour flight away. UNWTO data shows that tourism to Greece is up 10 per cent on last year, in which almost 25 million international travellers visited.
The middle part of Google’s 2017 table is taken by Georgia and Azerbaijan, neighbouring countries that between them span territory from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. They are closely followed by neighbouring Armenia, which comes in at number 8 on the table. All these destinations are served by low-cost, direct flights from the UAE; their proximity to Turkey may also be a factor in their popularity.
While the capitals of these countries, Tbilisi, Baku and Yerevan respectively, have been popular for the past few years, UAE travellers are now exploring further afield, attracted, for example, by Georgia’s agreeable summer climate and extremely low costs, opting for hiking trips to the mountains, which can cost just a few thousand dirhams. Return flydubai flights to Tbilisi cost from just Dh1,234 return including taxes.
This year, flydubai also launched seasonal direct routes from Dubai to Qabala, in Azerbaijan, and Batumi, which is Georgia’s second-largest city and on the Black Sea coast. Qabala is a popular summer destination due to its mild climate, forested mountains and historic sites. With both routes operating from June to September, it seems that many in the UAE agreed. This year, there was also an increase in the number of new multi-country trips to this region, allowing travellers to take in, for example, Armenia and Georgia in one cultural tour.
Croatia, number 7 on Google’s list, has been trending for about the past 15 years, as travellers woke up to its clean Mediterranean environment, low prices and good food. Something of an “Italy without the crowds”, UAE travellers are also able to take advantage of direct flights and the country being a shorter flight distance than Italy or Spain. This year, Emirates launched flights to Split via Zagreb, Croatia’s capital; while Dubrovnik and the Istrian coast have always been popular, UAE travellers have started to explore secondary bases such as Zadar and Sibenik.
Montenegro, a small country on the Adriatic next to Croatia and number 9 on the list, also shows that travellers are making inroads here. Although less well served by air routes – travellers from Abu Dhabi, for example, can go to Tivat (near Kotor) via Belgrade with its Air Serbia codeshare – its proximity to Dubrovnik in Croatia – that country’s most popular tourism destination thanks to its spectacular, Unesco-listed old city, plus Kotor, Montenegro’s own Unesco-listed walled city, and the relatively unspoilt nature of its lakes and mountains, makes it a summer draw.
Last but not least, since Emirates’ service to Phnom Penh only launched in July, is Cambodia, one of the last pieces of the South East Asian travel map to be ticked off after Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. According to UNWTO, tourism arrivals to South East Asia in general are up 8 per cent this year, with Cambodia up by 12 per cent on last year. Coming in at number 10 on the list, there is sure to be further demand in 2018 thanks to the spectacular and unmissable Unesco-listed ruined city of Angkor, which was once the capital of the mighty Khmer empire, then ruling across a vast territory far beyond the modern day borders of Cambodia.
And, with travellers now able to fly with UAE airlines both to and between South East Asian cities, it seems they are doing the same.