UAE continues to be a top destination for travellers from the UK, the US and France as occupancy across the hotel operator’s Middle East brands topped 65 percent in Q4, the highest globally
The rebound in travel that started last year will strengthen in 2022 and, despite lingering challenges, Satya Anand, president, EMEA, Marriott International is ‘optimistic and positive’ about the return of leisure, business and ‘bleisure’, a blend of business and leisure, trips this year.
Leading this optimism is the Middle East, which saw an occupancy of 65 percent for Q4 last year across Marriott’s properties, “the highest across the globe,” and the UAE topping the list of most sought-out destinations for outbound leisure travel from Europe this year, said Anand.
“The events of the last 24 hours have shown us how quickly things can change and while we can’t predict the unpredictable, I’m feeling very positive about travel this year and optimistic that the global recovery will progress meaningfully throughout 2022,” said Anand.
“The Middle East will continue to be popular for international visitors this year. I recently read a survey on consumer attitudes towards international travel which found that the UAE was a top destination of choice for respondents from big outbound travel markets like the UK, US, France and Italy and I’m not surprised either.
The UAE has been incredibly resilient when it comes to travel demand throughout the pandemic. In 2021, we saw strong occupancies across the country where we opened 12 new properties in Dubai alone,” he continued.
Coronavirus impact on leisure and business travel
While travel will continue, consumer habits have been altered with the pandemic in terms of what they seek from their trips with a recent study indicating that 7 in 10 consumers believe their travel behaviours have changed permanently.
“While some of our new behaviours may eventually fade away, Covid-19 has undoubtedly made an enduring mark on life and travel as we know it. Pent-up demand from almost two years living under pandemic-related restrictions has led people to seek out vacations even more, albeit with a heightened awareness on the need for more sustainable travel,” said Anand.
“From a leisure perspective, we have seen our customers gravitate towards brands that they can trust. At the same time, they are looking for more flexible booking policies, greater customer service, sustainable products, and travel providers making a positive social impact,” he continued.
The increasing usage of digital video platforms in the workplace has not diminished demand on business trips, said Anand.
“While Omicron caused a temporary setback to recovery in January, especially for business transient and group travel, we’re now seeing an appetite for booking across these customer segments rebound to the level we were at before the Omicron variant,” he explained.
“It’s clear that business travel is certainly not, as some have argued, a thing of the past. While it will change, we are confident it will return especially as companies look to reconnect with their employees face to face after more than two years apart and we are continuing to grow our portfolio to meet this demand,” said Anand.
With more travellers valuing experiences, and making the most of their time, bleisure is a category that will continue to grow.
“In addition, we are continuing to see a growing demand for bleisure. In fact, a 2021 study of global business travellers found that 89 percent wanted to add a private holiday onto their business trips in the next 12 months,” said Anand.
“At the same time, digital nomads are on the rise and these are people who have the flexibility to take the road and work from anywhere. While a niche segment today, market analysis suggests that there will be a fast growing at a powerful segment in the future,” he added.
Calling 2020 a “watershed year” for the hotel industry, Anand said the hotel operator experienced “significant progress in global RevPAR recovery despite the emergence of new variants, and ongoing headwinds from the global pandemic.”
“Over the coming 10 months or so we expect to open around 100 new hotels across our region alone. In the luxury space we have over 25 planned openings,” he added.