Global travel data platform ADARA has revealed travellers to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are predominantly male, affluent, organized and loyal.

ADARA’s insight into millions of travel actions every day, shows that travellers to the MENA region are 78 percent male, compared to 67 percent globally.

Research also revealed they are more likely to be elite travellers, with 38 percent having travelled First or Business class in the last three months, and spend high on hotel rooms at $230 per night.

Travellers to the MENA region also tend to plan further in advance than the average global travellers, with the average traveller booking their flights 38 days ahead of travel compared to 26 days on average.

Families booking travel to the region generally start searching two weeks ahead of booking and tickets being purchased almost 80 days ahead of travel.

Those visiting the region are a diverse group, arriving from a mix of originating countries. They tend to explore other options in the Middle East, Europe and Asia while planning their trips.

Research also revealled travellers to the region are loyal to brands with 65 percent part of at least one hotel chain loyalty scheme.

ADARA president of media, Elizabeth Harz, recapped that the research has shown that travellers to the MENA region have a higher budget, plan in advance and are loyal to rewards programs.

“Whilst these trends are somewhat expected, being able to quantify them with search, booking and loyalty data is incredibly helpful to brands. As an example, knowing there is an average of 9 days between first search and booking for flights and 6 days for hotels presents an exciting opportunity for our customers to leverage these and other insights.”

Most popular originating countries for travel to MENA in order are India, United States, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Italy, France, Canada, Australia, Germany and Spain.

The most popular MENA destinations are Dubai, AE – (DXB), Abu Dhabi, AE – (AUH), Istanbul, TR – (IST), Tel Aviv, IL – (TLV), Doha, QA – (DOH), Riyadh, SA – (RUH), Jeddah, SA – (JED), Muscat, OM – (MCT), Marrakech, MA – (RAK) and Ad Dammam, SA – (DMM).