Room nights booked by Middle Eastern travel agents with global travel distributor GTA were up 30% last year amid predictions of “massive growth potential” for travellers from the region.
Meanwhile, room nights booked by fully independent travellers from around the world to the Middle East grew by 5% last year.
The United Arab Emirates remains the most popular destination and has seen a 10% year-on-year increase in the number of room nights booked.
The top five destinations in the Middle East remain the same as 2012 with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar following the UAE, according to latest GTA data.
From an outbound perspective, sales in Iraq exceeded GTA expectations with more than a 100-fold increase.
The Turkish travel trade booked more than double the number of room nights, while Yemen, the UAE, Jordan, Lebanon and Bahrain all enjoyed double-digit growth in 2013.
More than two-thirds of the top ten Middle Eastern destinations achieved year-on-year growth, with Yemen and Bahrain in the triple and double-digits respectively. Although just outside the top ten, Iraq saw the number of room nights increase by 10%, as more travellers look to discover what the destination has to offer.
James Phillips, GTA’s vice president of sourcing for Europe, the Middle East & Africa, said: “As more and more people want to travel to and around the Middle East, travel agents rely on GTA’s sourcing teams to find the accommodation, services, excursions and experiences they most want to enjoy.
“Thanks to the strength of our supplier relationships in this region, high street and online travel agents and tour operators worldwide can book an even greater choice of accommodation for their clients in rising and already popular destinations.”