According to global flight, car hire and hotel marketplace Skyscanner’s latest research in association with OnePoll, 94 per cent of UAE consumers consider themselves to be spontaneous when it comes to travel.
The rise in spontaneity is indicated to be linked to the pandemic, with 80 per cent of UAE respondents claiming that they were more spontaneous now than they were pre-pandemic.
Spontaneity: the new norm
Spontaneous holidays are becoming the new norm, according to the research.
Almost half, which is 42 per cent of UAE travellers have arrived at the airport without a destination in mind and booked their destinations and flights on the spot.
A 60 per cent of the respondents said that they have booked a holiday in a very shot span of time, less than four days, before departure.
UAE travellers also said that they would feel happy (63 per cent) if they were surprised with a spontaneous holiday from their friends and family.
Spontaneously solo
The study also discovered that women are more likely to take part in a spontaneous solo trip over their male counterparts. Women were twice as likely to travel solo than men.
Apart from solo travellers, most travellers would op to travel with their spouse or partner for a spontaneous trip.
While UAE travellers are opting for sudden travel, 51 per cent of UAE travellers have said that money is a key deciding factor in whether to organise a spontaneous trip.
The Skyscanner research was conducted with the help of OnePoll, a market research company, in August 2023 with a sample size of 1,000 UAE respondents.
Behind the spontaneity
Travellers might be making spontaneous calls for destinations, however travel marketing plans subconsciously help in location options.
Given the rise in the travel trends post-pandemic, most travel related companies and even countries are creating new campaign for their consumer base. Earlier this year, the German National Tourism Board launched a campaign geared towards GCC travellers.
According to a study by American Express, 85 per cent of travellers were expected to plan to take two or more leisure trips in 2023.
