Over a third of travellers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE (34 per cent) book their flights using their smartphones compared to a majority of travellers from abroad, revealed a new report by Destinia, an international online travel agency.

Only 12 per cent of passengers from Germany, 11 per cent from Portugal and 10 per cent from Spain use their smartphones book their flights, the report showed.

Travellers from Saudi Arabia (35 per cent) and UAE (32 per cent) also use their smartphones the most when making hotel reservations., it said.

The research was revealed at a panel discussion at Arabnet 2015 in Riyadh with the chief international officer of Destinia, Ricardo Fernández.  

The research further revealed that the mobile travel reservation is on the rise with 21% of average bookings made at Destinia in 2015 compared to 15 per cent in 2014. Hotels are the best-selling product as 22 per cent of hotel reservations are made by mobile devices, as opposed to 16 per cent of flight reservations, although there are several differences by markets.

The research shows figures about bookings and spend profile from a selection of countries including Spain, France, UK, US, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Brazil.

Travellers from Saudi Arabia are also spending more money than those from Europe, the US or Japan with an average of SR1,851 ($493) being spent on flights and SR2,031 ($541) spent on hotels. 

The research also showed that travellers from Saudi Arabia and UAE generally book their trips at the last minute whereas the average lead time of mobile reservations has increased from 18 days in 2014 to 22 days in 2015. The lead time for travellers from Saudi Arabia and UAE is 18 days and nine days respectively when booking a flight.

“Mobile bookings are increasing at an astonishing rate in every travel sector facet and this research demonstrates how innovative and tech savvy travellers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE are. We are very excited to expand our presence and open an office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as it is a young and rapidly expanding population and currently leads the Middle East economy. This recent research is further evidence that the expansion will be a great opportunity for us to support this growing market,” said Fernández.

As part of its plans to expand its presence in the Middle East, Destinia will open an office in Saudi Arabia by 2016.

As one of Europe’s top online travel agencies, Destinia.com boasts a selection of 300,000 hotels and 600 airlines around the world.  The website takes pride in offering travel expertise through bespoke servicing and customers care 24 hours a day. Catering to each market’s preferences, Destinia.com offers several payment modalities, including a cash-on-delivery service pay@home. – TradeArabia News Service