Travel searches in the Middle East held steady even as flight bookings fell sharply following airspace closures in late February, with destination rankings shifting as access to air corridors changed, according to travel marketplace Wego.
Wego, which published its annual Middle East Traveller Destination Leaderboards on Monday, said its report draws on search and booking data through the end of August 2026, measured against equivalent periods of 2025.
Within a week of the airspace closures, bookings fell from above the 2025 average to 63% of it, while searches held throughout, Wego said. Bookings did not recover to 2025 levels until early May.
“Travel demand in the Middle East proved far more resilient this year than the headlines suggested. When airspace closed, people did not stop planning trips, searches held steady even as bookings halved,” Ross Veitch, CEO and Co-Founder of Wego, said.
“What travellers lost was the ability to fly, not the intention to. Access, not appetite, sets the ceiling on destination performance in this region,” he said.
Gulf search volume: Saudi most resilient
Wego said search volume to Gulf destinations was down 16% year to date, with the decline concentrated in March and April. Kuwait reopened its airspace on April 24 and volumes recovered from May onward.
Saudi Arabia, described by Wego as the region’s largest market on both sides of the travel funnel, was shown separately from the regional aggregate.
Saudi Arabia was among the most resilient Gulf destinations, with search volume easing 15.8%, compared with declines of 18% to 29% across most of its neighbours, Wego said.
Egypt remained the top destination in Wego’s ranking, extending its first-place position to 12 years, the longest unbroken run in the series. Egypt’s search volume eased 5.3%, while Morocco declined 4.3%. Algeria and Tunisia were the only two destinations in the region to grow.
Egypt’s inbound tourism also recorded 5.6 million visitors in the first quarter, up 43.5% year on year, Wego said, while noting that this was a separate measure.
Saudi top destination
The report also highlighted differences between Gulf markets and Gulf nationals, with nationality measured by passport rather than point of sale.
Saudi citizens travelling to Egypt accounted for 19.6% of all international travel by Gulf citizens, Wego said, describing it as a single corridor larger than every Emirati, Bahraini, Omani and Qatari journey combined.
Saudi Arabia was the top destination for each Gulf country, ranging from 14.1% of Omani travel to 33.0% of Qatari travel. For Saudis themselves, the leading destination was home, followed by Egypt at 14.2%. Egypt ranked second or third for five of the six Gulf nationalities.
Saudi citizens sent 32.9% of their international travel to Egypt and 14.5% to Türkiye and the Caucasus, both the highest shares among the group, while 16.0% went to other Gulf states.
Omani travellers were the most Asia-facing, with 24.1% of their travel going to Asia. Emirati travellers led on Europe at 10.8% and were the most evenly distributed overall. Bahraini and Qatari travel stayed closest to home, with both recording more than 52% within the Gulf.
Wego said 56.8% of Saudis’ flights stayed within the Kingdom. Oman followed at 12.8%, while the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar recorded between 0.6% and 2.8%, reflecting limited domestic air travel.
The latter four countries routed between 39% and 52% of all flights to neighbouring Gulf states, compared with 6.9% for Saudi citizens.
Of Saudi flights that left the Kingdom, 84.0% continued beyond the Gulf, the widest reach among the six nationalities, ahead of the UAE at 60.8% and Kuwait at 57.6%.
Intra-Gulf travel down
Wego also found that intra-Gulf travel by Gulf nationals remained below its earlier level. Journeys by Gulf citizens fell from an index of 68 before late February to 35 after the disruption, while journeys by other nationals on the same routes fell from 93 to 82.
Across all journeys, however, the change was similar, with the Gulf citizens’ index falling 16.1% against 16.5% for the comparison group.
“Citizens did not travel less than anyone else; the difference is entirely in where they went,” Wego said.
Hotel bookings
Hotel demand also shifted during the disruption. From March to August, hotel bookings rose 17%, room nights increased 10%, while average booking value fell 18%. Domestic hotel bookings rose 37%, compared with a 9% decline in international bookings, lifting the domestic share of bookings by 9.5 percentage points.
Average nights per booking fell from 2.40 to 2.24.
Wego said average hotel daily rates were at the 2025 average through January and February before falling 24% below it at the onset of the disruption. Rates subsequently recovered to within 11% of the prior-year average by the summer months.
The company said roughly half of the change in hotel booking value came from a shift towards domestic bookings and roughly half from lower average daily rates. Middle East hoteliers also offered big promotions at the height of the disruption to maintain occupancy.
UK leading European destination
Beyond the Gulf, Europe recorded the largest regional adjustment, with search volume down 20%. The United Kingdom remained the leading European destination, a position it has held for 10 of the past 11 years, although its volume eased 22%.
Azerbaijan declined 39% and Georgia 29%, the two steepest movements among established European destinations. Spain eased 3%, France 8% and Italy 16%.
The Indian Subcontinent was the strongest-growing region, rising 19%. India remained second overall, while Pakistan rose to fourth with search volume up 34%. Bangladesh increased 18%, Nepal 13% and Sri Lanka 11%.
Asia Pacific declined 6%. Thailand retained the regional top position for a fifth consecutive year despite an 11% decline, while Indonesia grew 4% and moved up two places.
China recorded the region’s largest gain, rising seven places on an 18% increase. Vietnam gained 17%.
Wego said China extended visa-free entry to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain from June 9, 2025, bringing all six GCC states under visa-free access when combined with exemptions already held by the UAE and Qatar.
Vietnam’s gain followed Etihad’s opening of its first direct Abu Dhabi-Hanoi service on Nov. 2, 2025, six times a week on a Boeing 787.
At the global level, Wego said destinations that climbed materially did so following a specific improvement in access, including a resumed service, a first direct route or a visa waiver. Nepal rose eight places, while China, Vietnam, Sudan and Kenya each rose seven.
Wego said bookings recovered to 2025 levels in early May, while normal peak-summer seasonality resumed from July.
