Wego, a leading travel search site in the Middle East and Asia Pacific, has recorded a surge in site visits, searches and revenue during this year’s Ramadan, the highest since establishing its regional office in Dubai last year.

The travel searches last month (July) increased by over 50 per cent on the previous month, with the majority searches emanating from Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE, Egypt and Kuwait, said the statement.

Dubai topped the list for flight searches followed by Cairo, Jeddah, Istanbul and Jakarta, while the most popular destinations for hotel searches were for Dubai, Makkah, Jeddah, Madinah and Abu Dhabi, it said.

Mamoun Hmedan from Wego Dubai, said: “Traditionally Ramadan is a slow period for business in general, and online travel in particular throughout the region. During the month of July, Wego experienced an enormous increase in site traffic overall which was quite unexpected.”

“Wego has enjoyed enormous popularity in the Middle East as travellers in the region more frequently turn to the convenience and simplicity of planning and booking their travel online,” said Hmedan.

“Our introduction of the world’s first hotel and airline travel app in Arabic has been truly appreciated by the thousands of travellers in the region as smartphone usage continues to grow,” he said.

“Wego has featured in the top five travel apps on iTunes in the Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait. Travellers are responding favourably to the app especially in Saudi Arabia where smartphone penetration is the highest in the world.”

“Oman travellers searched for flights to Goa in India, and Saudi Arabians targetted Hangzhou in China; another location with a strong Muslim heritage that dates back to the mid 1800s when it was described as the stronghold of Islam in China,” said Hmedan.

Flights to Canada were also searched in high numbers from the Emirates and Oman, Kuwaitis selected both Florida and Canada, and Jordanian travellers selected Sweden.

“This huge growth in activity shows us that Mena travellers are extremely comfortable and secure with the convenience that using Wego provides them, and that the many new flight routes have opened up a world of adventurous travel to the entire region,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service