Generation X has experienced the most disruption among age groups in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) when it comes to the cancelation of travel plans. Within this demographic, over a third of respondents strongly agree they have had to change or cancel upcoming domestic (36%) and international (41%) plans, according to a survey by GlobalData.
Generation X has experienced the most disruption among age groups in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) when it comes to the cancelation of travel plans. Within this demographic, over a third of respondents ‘strongly agree’ they have had to change or cancel upcoming domestic (36%) and international (41%) plans, according to a survey by GlobalData. Generation X travelers are a lucrative market, and operators should be utilizing this time to restore confidence within the market and identifying future opportunity.
GlobalData found that 65% of UAE respondents in this age range remain ‘extremely concerned’ about the global outbreak of COVID-19. Generation X is more risk averse than younger generations due to greater concerns surrounding health and safety, which reflects why their trips have been the impacted the most.
Johanna Bonhill-Smith, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “As demand has been disrupted, there does lie opportunity for future travel. One opportunity that operators could consider is personal health and well-being as 77% of Generation X aspire to hear such tips from businesses right now. A well targeted campaign highlighting the health and social benefits of an experience, will likely be more memorable, servicing future demand when restrictions lift.
“A personalized service also bodes well with this market as 90% of travelers are ‘always’, ‘often’ or ‘somewhat’ influenced by how well a product/service is tailored to their needs. Booking.com under BookingHoldings brand was one of the first global online travel agency (OTA) to offer content in Arabic and is now one of the main brands utilized by Emirati travelers.”