TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
The UAE has the highest internet usage by country in the world at 96 per cent whereas USA has 86 per cent penetration and Singapore, 82 per cent. Several Middle East countries are above the global average according to Mamoun Hmedan, Managing Director MENA & India Wego.
SHEHARA RIZLY
Q) Could you give us a brief overview of the company and its main focus?
Wego is a leading travel meta-search site in the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Wego aggregates airlines, hotels and online travel agent options in one easy to use site. It helps travellers shop and compare the best options online and connects them with our travel partners where they make their booking directly.
Wego is optimised for both desktop and mobile and our travel app has proved extremely popular with MENA travellers. Founded in Singapore in 2005, Wego expanded and specialised in emerging markets, establishing offices in Jakarta, Bangalore and in 2012 – Dubai. Each month, Wego sends flight and hotel booking referrals worth $1.5 billion to travel partners.
Q) How important is the UAE and Middle East region for Wego?
We recognised early that the travel industry in the Middle East, and the Gulf especially, was undergoing a transformation which is why we opened our office in Dubai. The market moved very quickly from traditional travel planning and booking methods to almost completely online. This provided new opportunities for businesses to connect with Middle East travellers outside of the region, as well as inter-regionally.
From a product point of view the region has become a global phenomenon. More travellers are discovering what the region has to offer, thanks to the commitment of local government, tourism bodies and airlines. Hotels have become renowned for a distinctive luxury and service delivered in a way that only we can deliver. Tourism bodies too have developed exciting international events that continue to attract travellers from all over the world. From a tourism point of view, the entire region has been on fast forward.
Q) Could you please give us a brief of the growing trends affecting the travel industry?
The UAE has the highest internet usage by country in the world at 96 per cent. To put that into some perspective, USA has 86 per cent penetration and Singapore, 82 per cent. Several Middle East countries are above the global average. Wego moved fast to deliver travellers what they wanted. A seamless mobile travel planning app that connected them with local and global travel partners in their own language and currency of choice. In fact, Wego’s travel app was the first travel meta-search delivered in Arabic and from RTL.
The rapid adoption of mobile for trip planning and the popularity of travel shopping online has resulted in a giant shift in the Middle East travel industry. The GCC is second in the world in terms of mobile transactions on smartphones. And this hasn’t gone unnoticed by destinations around the world. Travellers from this region have become a lucrative inbound market as well. Hotels have learned that many travellers in this region, especially from Saudi, prefer to travel with their extended families. Many hotels now directly target these travellers with connecting rooms, or larger suites.
Properties understand that to lure these travellers they need to provide diverse experiences. Children’s activities, shopping, golf, entertainment to suit families. Also, the preference is for high levels of service and properties usually four stars or above in ratings. These expectations are not surprising to us. But what we should consider are the new opportunities that now present themselves for Gulf businesses to fit into the more frequent outbound and inter-regional travel.
Q) What trends could we expect for the ME region by 2020?
E-commerce facilities will continue to adapt to suit online shopping, and travel businesses will continue to build their online presence. For Wego, we intend to continue to develop our product based on our customer needs and feedback, and create the most personalised experience as possible.
Personalisation and local relevance are what we’ve found to be of most importance to our users, with the obvious resulting benefits for increased business for our local travel partners. We have worked very hard to also deliver targeted and waste-free advertising opportunities designed to reach an audience where ad placement makes sense to their online journey.
As innovations in tech and mobile continue to present themselves, so too will opportunities for the travel industry. Improving the shopping and holiday experience of a traveller is key to success and continued growth with what is a very loyal travel market.
Q) In your opinion what are the tools used to grow direct connectivity with customers by trade partners.
Social media will continue to play a direct role in customer communication and engagement, although we can expect channels and algorithms may change over the years. The process will remain the same however, and that’s to provide original and unique content that responds to users needs and interests. Targeted advertising, as mentioned, is another effective way to connect with a travel audience. Wego’s Private Marketplace is a targeted, data-driven advertising solution. Advertisers can run more complex campaigns on Wego, so we give them the opportunity to buy media that fits into their workflow and ad technology stack. Our clients are extremely pleased with these scalable and flexible ad technologies which enables advertisers and agencies to access Wego’s inventory and audience efficiently.
Q) Do share your views on the growth of airlines, airports, hubs and trip frequency and how these will affect businesses in general.
Ever since the Gulf carriers began expanding their fleets, the number of new routes and investment in even longer-haul flights, aviation around the world has stepped up. The large investments in new fleets, routes, in-flight and ground services coming out of the Gulf is sparking growth in other regions. In many ways we are leading the world in tourism development.
This heavy competition results in more choice for the traveller, more opportunities for the global travel economy, regional development and an improved infrastructure. The resulting effects on how we travel, associated costs, and development of infrastructure, increased services and new routes also introduces new markets and business opportunities. It’s for these reasons that this region continues to develop from an aviation point of view, faster than any other in the world.
It’s an historical time to be in the travel industry in the Middle East. We are no longer a stopover point for planes to refuel on their long haul journeys – we’re becoming the leader of long haul aviation instead. We have grown faster than any other travel market, jumping from the traditional travel agent business to becoming one of the most valuable e-commerce travel-related markets in the world. I have no doubt we will continue to achieve more historic milestones.
