MasterCard Survey - UAE Consumers Set to Spend on Personal and Business Travel
MasterCard Consumer Lifestyles Survey Results Reveal Continued Trend in the UAE
Travel and Shopping – Striking preferences of consumers in the Middle East and the UAE. Results of the MasterCard Consumer Lifestyles survey conducted were revealed today highlighting some interesting trends in consumer preferences.
The MasterCard Consumer Lifestyles survey is part of the bi-annual MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence, a survey commissioned by MasterCard Worldwide across South Asia, Middle East & Africa (SAMEA). The Consumer Lifestyles survey seeks to understand perceptions, choices and concerns that people have with regard to a number of lifestyle choices.
All consumers surveyed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) plan to travel in the months ahead, 78% for personal reasons, 5% for business travel and 8% for both. Across the Middle East & Levant (ME&L), consumers continue to travel, with 82% of consumers surveyed planning to travel out of their country.
Escaping the hot summer seems to be one of the main motivations for determining the travel period - residents prefer traveling in June (17%), July (22%) and August (13%). The latest survey shows UAE consumers favour India (42%), Egypt (8%), and Malaysia (7%) as travel destinations. While India and Egypt were also among the preferred destinations in the previous survey, Malaysia has substituted Thailand as a preferred destination. Across ME&L, the choice of destination varies but Egypt (10%), India (15%), Syria and the UAE (7% each) are popular. Consumers also continue to travel outside the region to destinations such as Turkey, Malaysia or Australia (7% each).
Not surprisingly, the majority of ME&L consumers surveyed (91%) said they were going to spend more on personal travel than they did previously. In the UAE, 99% of those surveyed were planning to spend more, 11% more than in the previous survey (88%). Half of the surveyed consumers in the UAE (51% vs. 46% in the last survey) anticipated they would spend between 11%-25% more on personal travel, while 29% said they would spend 26%-50% more, as opposed to 23% in the previous survey. Spending on business travel looks to further increase with 95% (vs. 80%) of consumers willing to spend more.
When traveling, shopping is almost a must do holiday activity, ranking as the main activity enjoyed while on a personal travel trip for 57% (vs. 55% in the previous survey) of ME&L travelers surveyed. This was slightly higher among UAE consumers surveyed as 59% nominated shopping as their main holiday activity. This was followed by entertainment (51% vs. 43%), visiting family or friends (48% vs. 24%), or visiting historical sites (45% vs. 36%).
Safety and security as a concern for UAE consumers has decreased from 73% in the last survey to 30%. Other concerns include going through immigration (40%), losing one’s passport (31%), and catching a contagious fatal disease (30%). Across the ME&L, concern over security and safety is the biggest worry with 29%, but has decreased from 50% in the last survey for consumers who plan to travel in the coming months. Other concerns are going through immigration (24%), losing one’s passport (21%) and baggage as well as being cheated (20%).
The majority of UAE travelers own some sort of payment card whether it is a credit card (71%), a debit card (78%) or a prepaid card (48%). Consumers offer a variety of reasons for carrying a payment card when they travel.
Debit cards are becoming more popular as a payment method, experiencing a further increase in ME&L compared to the last survey (52% vs. 50%). The use of debit cards has now equaled the use of credit cards to pay for overseas travel expenses. Cheques, foreign notes and ATM withdrawal have experienced a slight increase but are far less popular.
ME&L consumers indicated a number of reasons for increasing their use of debit cards. Debit cards are more secure than cash (76% vs. 49% in the last survey) and allow them to spend what is in the bank account (70% vs. 53% in the last survey). Consumers also state that debit cards offer more control (71% vs. 44%) and are widely accepted (65% vs. 38%) and convenient (67% vs. 33%).
The most popular reason for using a credit card is that it is more secure than cash (74% vs. 75%). Other results from the latest survey show that across ME&L, 63% thought credit cards were widely accepted (against 52% in the last survey), 62% said a credit card gave them better control over their spending (against 38% in the last survey) and 60% thought a credit card is more convenient (as opposed to 46% in the last survey). This indicates that confidence in payment cards and the value they add to the traveler is increasing.
