The region had a difficult beginning of the current year, but forecasters expect a recovery. International travel in MENA and South Asia is expected to grow 17 percent in 2027, more than twice the global rate of 8 percent.
Compared with Q3 2025, trips on Tumodo's platform rose 112 percent and spend rose 132 percent. Against Q1 of this year, trips were up 44 percent and spend was up 72 percent. A recent report projects that Middle East business travel spending is envisaged to reach USD16 billion for the current year.
September was the busiest month for bookings. Per day, bookings were 13 percent higher than in August and 36 percent higher than in July. But spending peaked in August, hotel stays were longer and more expensive that month.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE led the growth from July to September. The sharpest increases were on routes to Riyadh, Dubai and Dammam. This is the autumn business season returning after the summer lull. Airlines are returning too, Lufthansa Group scheduled Frankfurt to Riyadh flights in September.
Major Destinations in the MENA Region
Saudi Arabia led MENA business travel in Q3 with 48.6 percent of trips. The UAE followed with 31.1 percent. Together, the two countries accounted for almost 80 percent of MENA trips. Egypt was a distant third at around 6.4 percent. Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, and smaller markets shared the rest.
Riyadh and Dubai were the top destination cities, followed by Astana and Almaty. The busiest MENA city pairs were Jeddah to Riyadh, Riyadh to Dubai and Dubai to Riyadh. Cairo to Riyadh and Cairo to Dubai came next. Across the whole platform, Astana to Almaty was the single busiest route.
Prices
The average air ticket cost USD615 in Q3. That is 36 percent more than the USD451 recorded in Q1 and above the USD598 peak in May. Fares rose about 7 percent from July to August. In September, they fell to roughly 15 percent below August and 10 percent below July. Part of that drop may come from a change in route mix, so Tumodo does not treat it as a lasting correction.
The average hotel booking was worth USD663 for a stay of 4.7 nights. Booking values jumped about 78 percent in August and returned close to July levels in September. The jump came from length of stay, not from higher rates. Stays averaged 6.8 nights in August and between 3.4 and 3.9 nights in the other months of Q3.
Trip Patterns
The median business trip lasted two days. The average was 8.5 days, pulled up by a long tail of extended assignments. Trips to MENA averaged about 5.7 days.
Emirates was the most used airline, followed by Saudia, Air Astana, Turkish Airlines and IndiGo. Gulf carriers dominated MENA traffic, including Emirates, Saudia, flydubai, flynas, Qatar Airways, flyadeal and Etihad.
The Middle East is expected to be the fastest-growing travel and tourism region between 2026 and 2036, with sector GDP growing 6.3 percent a year.
