GCC’s top ‘roaming’ mobile users are…

Travellers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the most savvy when it comes to accessing online services while ‘roaming’, according to a new report. 

As per the organisers of a travel technology forum running alongside next week’s Arabian Travel Market exhibition in Dubai, a Cisco report states that the number of mobile devices in the Middle East and Africa will rise exponentially from the current 133 million to 598 million devices by 2017.

Among the regional travellers, Saudi and UAE travellers are said to lead in the use of online services while being out of their country of residence. “Indeed, 50 and 35 per cent of Saudi and UAE travellers, respectively, access online services via their smartphones, presenting travel professionals with tremendous marketing opportunities, using mobile channels,” said Mark Walsh Portfolio Director at Reed Travel Exhibitions, the organiser of ATM.

Emirates 24|7 had reported last month that mobile users in the GCC are set to hit 100 million by 2020. Read: GCC mobile users to hit 100m. Qatar and UAE are likely to experience the highest growth in population as they prepare for soccer World Cup 2022 and World Expo 2020, respectively, the report published late last month by Global Investment House had noted.

This year’s ATM Travel Technology Theatre is set to examine the effect of mobile devices on regional online booking patterns and the action and future direction that marketing professionals need to take. “Of regional travellers who generally plan their trips online, 48 per cent had used a smartphone during the previous 12 months to carry out travel-related activities, a figure that rises to 69 per cent if tablets are included,” Walsh said, citing travel trade website Tbnooz.com as the source for this data.

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