Business

Saudi travel company Almosafer’s new report reveals latest domestic travel trends

Almosafer, Saudi Arabia’s leading travel company, has published a new report coinciding with the opening the Arabian Travel Market (ATM 2023), which reveals the latest travel trends of Saudi travellers venturing abroad and exploring their Kingdom domestically.
The report shows that the top international destinations for Saudi travellers include Dubai, Cairo, London, Istanbul, and Doha. Since the resumption of travel to Türkey in the summer of 2022, the destination has catapulted its way back to one of the top choices for Saudi travelers. Doha, on the other hand, has retained its appeal for Saudi travelers as a leisure destination, even after the World Cup last year. Trending destinations include Rome, Bangkok, and Seoul, with other Asian destinations also gaining popularity.

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The report shows that the demand for domestic travel in the Kingdom remains very strong, even despite the full resumption of international travel. In the year to date, domestic bookings have accounted for 56 percent of total bookings, up from 47 percent for the same period pre-pandemic in 2019. On the domestic side, all-time favourite domestic destinations Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Makkah, and Abha continue to dominate, whilst trending destinations for trips within the Kingdom include AlUla, Taif and Najran.
In terms of booking channels, the data shows that 89 percent of total bookings are made online compared to 11 percent made offline, illustrating the seamless user experience offered by Almosafer’s omnichannel touchpoints, but also the need for advisory through WhatsApp, call center or via retail branches for more complex itineraries. This is especially true for domestic bookings, where almost half (49 percent) of all bookings are placed via retail channels, indicating that Saudi travelers are seeking travel advisory services for leisure trips in their own country.
Almosafer’s report also shows that overall, Saudi travelers are spending more on longer trips. The average trip length has increased by 13 percent to 9.1 days, up from 8 days in 2019, whereas the average order value has increased by 15 percent since pre-pandemic.
The data shows that this shift is even more amplified in domestic trips. While domestic travel used to be driven by shorter trips for purposes such as visiting family, friends, or for special occasions, Saudis are now considering their own country as a destination to explore, as they spend more money on longer leisure trips in the Kingdom.
There has also been a significant increase in the average length of domestic trips of 36 percent to 5-day trips in 2023 compared to 3.7 days in 2019. Longer trips mean that travellers are also spending more money with the average order value for domestic trips increasing by 40 percent in 2023 compared to 2019. The average booking window for domestic travel has also increased by 12 percent to 7.7 days in 2023, up from 6.9 days in 2019, suggesting that Saudis are spending more time to plan their domestic trips.
Overall, bookings for five-star hotels have also increased from 46 percent of total hotel bookings in 2019 to 52 percent in 2023. This increase in spending mirrors the global trend as people are choosing more luxurious and meaningful experiences since travel has rebounded. Domestically, Saudis are also spending more money on luxury accommodation now that there is a wider range of options available with the introduction of luxury hotels and resort brands to the Kingdom in locations such as AlUla.
Travellers are also showing an increasingly strong preference for low-cost carriers over full service carriers when booking flights. In 2023, bookings for low-cost carriers accounted for 62 percent of total flight bookings, up from 47 percent in 2019, while bookings for full-service carriers decreased from 53 percent in 2019 to 38 percent in 2023. This increase in bookings for low-cost carriers reflects the increase in capacity and routes, and travellers are opting for more economical flight choices while choosing to instead spend more at their destination.
Other trends include an increase in the number of solo travellers who account for 24 percent of travellers in 2023, up from 14 percent in 2019; and for customers of Almosafer Concierge, the first luxury travel concierge service from Saudi Arabia, wellness experiences and luxury honeymoon island stays are emerging as the top trends.
Muzzammil Ahussain, Chief Executive Officer of Almosafer, said: “The incredible appetite for travel remains undiminished in the Kingdom and our report shows that people continue to grasp opportunities to travel both internationally and domestically. They are spending more money on longer trips and meaningful experiences when they travel. What is also becoming apparent is that Saudi Arabia has become a leisure destination for many Saudis who are beginning to discover the wealth of attractions at their own doorstep.”

Abu Dhabi targets 24 mln visitors by 2023, following tourist surge last year

Arabian Travel Market 2023 opens in Dubai with 150 participating countries

Business

Almarai signs multiple agreements to localize jobs through training and recruitment programs

Almarai signed a cooperation memorandum with the Food Industries Polytechnic, the
Transport General Authority, and the Saudi Logistics Academy to localize jobs in the
food and beverages sector through training and rehabilitation programs ending in
employment. This came within the first international conference on the labor market,
organized by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development on 13 – 14
December 2023 at the King Abdulaziz Convention Center in Riyadh.

‘These agreements are part of Almarai’s corporate program for the social responsibility
to achieve localization in the food industry sector, which is one of the top priorities of the
comprehensive strategic plans in Almarai, especially since the company is one of the
largest working environments in the kingdom, with more than 9,000 Saudi employees,
including more than 900 Saudi female employees.”Fahad Aldrees, Chief Human
Resources Officer of Almarai, said.

He added that the agreements signed to train and qualify young people are part of the
integrated initiatives and training and rehabilitation programs for national human
resources in Almarai. He pointed out that the company provided about half a million
employee training hours during 2022, raising its retention rate to 90% during 2022.

It is worth mentioning that Almarai is the world’s largest vertically integrated dairy
company, and the largest food and beverage producer and distributor in the Middle
East. Almarai was ranked among LinkedIn’s top 15 Saudi companies for professional
career development for 2022.

Business

SEBA Bank rebrands to AMINA Bank and continues to write its success story

a fully licensed Swiss crypto bank, announced today its new brand identity: AMINA Bank AG. The group operates
globally from its regulated hubs in Zug, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, offering its clients traditional and crypto banking services.
SEBA Bank made history in 2019 by becoming one of the first FINMA-regulated institutions to provide crypto banking services. This rebrand marks a new chapter for the company, which has proudly been in operation for more than four years. AMINA Bank is inspired by the same trailblazing ambition to lead the way for its clients and to write its own future as a Swiss-
regulated crypto bank offering services to its traditional and crypto savvy clients around the globe. The name ‘AMINA’ stems from the term ‘transAMINAtion’, meaning transference of one compound to another. AMINA is a brand driven by perpetual change, bringing together the various ‘compounds’ of traditional, digital, and crypto banking to unlock new potential and
growth for our clients. This vision of change represents the transformation of our clients’ financial future. Franz Bergmueller, CEO of AMINA, said: “We are delighted to introduce the world to our new brand identity. While we say goodbye to the SEBA name, we remain forever proud of the achievements made by the group under the former brand. “Our brand signifies a new era in the company’s growth and strategy; we are a key player in crypto banking and are here to define the future of finance. With our client-focused approach, our years of traversing traditional and crypto finance, we offer a platform for investors to build
wealth safely and under the highest regulatory standards.” “We are grateful to be encouraged by our supportive and committed investors who have been very helpful, supporting the growth of the company. We thank our employees in all the regions
for their dedication and client focus. As we look forward to 2024, our ambition is to accelerate the growth of our strategic hubs in Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi, and to continue our global expansion, building on all the successes we have laid down over the past years.” Current clients of AMINA Bank (formerly SEBA Bank) will be unaffected by the rebrand other than encountering the new name; all operations will be business as usual across the board. The branch office based in Abu Dhabi and the subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Singapore will subsequently apply for a name change to align with the head office in Zug.

Business

Uptime Appoints Mustapha Louni Chief Business Officer

Uptime Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Mustapha Louni to the position of Chief Business Officer, a role specifically created to drive strategic leadership and client success. In this new role, Mr. Louni will assume responsibility for the global Uptime sales and marketing organizations and drive overall business value for all Uptime clients. He will retain his existing responsibilities overseeing operations in the Middle East, India, Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions. In this elevated capacity, Mr. Louni is poised to play a pivotal role in driving Uptime’s next phase of global expansion through strategic initiatives to enhance market awareness of the dramatically expanding global service lines and delivery capabilities of Uptime that uniquely support the global data center industry in its pursuit of ever higher performance through elevated availability, resiliency, sustainability, and cyber-security of digital infrastructure. Louni’s appointment renews and expands Uptime

Institute 39;s 30-year commitment to advancing excellence in the data center sector on a global scale. “Today we are experiencing the next phase of the one-time, planetary transformation from analog to digital. This unprecedented, once-in-a-generation growth in data center demand is primarily driven by continuing cloud adoption, the new promise of AI, and the demonstrable fact
that hybrid digital infrastructure is here to stay for the foreseeable future,” said Martin McCarthy, CEO, Uptime Institute. “These complex and nuanced market demands require a visionary talent like Mustapha Louni. He is someone who cannot only deftly manage specific aspects of the business but also remain ahead of accelerating changes and trends. He continues to earn client
trust and respect by timely delivery on demanding commitments while he also inspires and energizes colleagues and clients alike. I am delighted to announce Mr. Louni’s new position and know that he will continue to expand the impact that he has already brought to Uptime since his arrival.” In 2014, Mr. Louni joined the Uptime organization in the United Arab Emirates, leveraging his extensive experience from roles at Panduit and Schneider Electric in Paris and Dubai. As the company’s first commercial resource in the Middle East and Africa region, Mr. Louni played a pivotal role in expanding Uptime’s presence. Within a year, he successfully established what became and remains Uptime’s fastest growing regional office. Under his leadership, Uptime has
extended his impressive trajectory of growth in MEA to the Asia-Pacific regions, augmenting the Uptime workforce with dedicated team members spanning more than a dozen countries across these regions. A new Uptime office has been inaugurated in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) this year, further fortifying the company’s ability to meet its commitment to sustained
growth and excellence and serve clients in critical, accelerating markets for digital infrastructure.

Uptime Institute began development of its proprietary and now globally recognized Tier Standards and its Tier Certifications 30 years ago to ensure that the mission critical computing needs of all organizations could be met with confidence and understood by executive management. Since that time, Uptime Tier Certification as well as other Uptime offerings including assessments and awards in digital infrastructure for ensuring business performance in areas of management and operations, risk and resilience, sustainability, and more recently cyber- security have gained global adoption. Uptime’s expanding success is based on delivering a
unique business service that is based upon unparalleled engineering excellence and technical mastery, while remaining vendor independent and technology agnostic.