DUBAI: An insights survey commissioned by Twitter in May has revealed the top trends among travelers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE ahead of the high season. With summer already here, many people in the Middle East are looking to travel abroad. Until recently, travel was on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as more and more countries begin to open up, travelers are looking forward to trips again. Twitter’s survey helps discover the opinions, sentiments and potential behaviors of its users in the UAE and Saudi Arabia with regard to international travel. One of the key findings of the survey is that consumers are craving novel experiences. More than 50 percent of Twitter users in the UAE and the Kingdom are motivated to travel as an escape from everyday life. Many people were unable to travel and meet their family and friends in the last two years, which explains why the most popular reason to travel is for a family holiday, according to 46 percent of respondents in Saudi and more than 51 percent in the UAE. Despite the long break from travel, people are still price-conscious. In Saudi Arabia, travelers were particularly concerned about high expenses at the destination (46 percent) followed by ticket prices (40 percent). Moreover, price ranked much higher than other factors, such as safety (35 percent), geopolitical situations (29 percent) and public health (19 percent). In the UAE, on the other hand, safety was the primary factor (39 percent), followed by ticket prices (36 percent), geopolitical situations (35 percent) and high expenses at the destination (35 percent). Public health, however, ranked as one of the lowest threats to travel plans for UAE respondents at 24 percent. Still, price was the most important factor when choosing an airline in both countries (75 percent). Unsurprisingly, the most popular airlines were Saudia for people in the Kingdom (67 percent) and Emirates for people in the UAE (79 percent). In both countries, last minute bookings appear to be more popular. Most people in the UAE said that they would book a trip about a month in advance (33 percent), while people in the Kingdom said that they would book less than two weeks ahead of their trip (30 percent). In fact, when it comes to international travel this summer, only 4 percent of people in the Kingdom have already booked flights, while 48 percent said that they are unlikely to travel. On the other hand, 21 percent of people in the UAE have booked flights and 50 percent said that they are likely to travel. Moreover, 31 percent in Saudi vs. 56 percent in the UAE are now confident about traveling on a plane, suggesting a significant difference in overall confidence between the two markets.