Travelling abroad with kids is a growing market in the UAE

UAE-based families are a well-travelled bunch. A recently released survey shows that most jet off twice a year, whether that be back to their home countries to see friends and relatives, or simply because they have a higher disposable income.

The YouGov survey of 2,000 people, unveiled at Arabian Travel Market this month, showed that 64 per cent of Mena-based respondents travelled with their children in the past year, and those with younger children (0-to-12-year-olds) travel more than those with teenagers, taking three or more trips each year.

Most were visiting family and friends (29 per cent), but the rest were for leisure purposes, with those other trips broken down to resort/beach holidays (25 per cent), Eid holiday travel (17 per cent), shopping (15 per cent), nature holidays (14 per cent), city breaks (11 per cent), sightseeing (9 per cent) and religious tourism (9 per cent).

Ed Lillywhite and his wife Hannah travel regularly with their 2-year-old twins. At least once a year, they head back to the United Kingdom to visit family and friends, but they also have other travel plans on the horizon. “Our main reason for travelling is to visit family, specifically both sets of grandparents,” Lillywhite says. “My parents live in London, Hannah’s are in Cornwall, so there is still a lot of travelling when we are in the UK.

“Our next trip is to the UK in July, and then again at Christmas, but next year we will take the twins to India and Sri Lanka.”

While the twins are young, the Lillywhites prefer to keep their leisure holidays closer to their home base of Dubai. “We have had several family breaks in the UAE, staying at some of the fabulous resorts here, as flying with twins requires the logistics capacity of a military campaign,” he says. “When they are a bit older, a tour of Italy would be our dream family holiday.”

As demand for family-friendly travel increases, hospitality providers are looking for ways to appeal to people like the Lillywhites. Some destinations, such as Orlando, Florida, which is home to Walt Disney World, have long tapped into the family market and are still reaping the rewards.

Original article by Amanda Tomlinson

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Travelling abroad with kids is a growing market in the UAE