Emirates Group’s Yalago records 92% rise in hotel bookings in 2022

Yalago, part of the Emirates Group and a ‘leisure bed’ bank, recorded a 92 per cent increase in hotel bookings in 2022 compared to the previous year.

According to the wholesale specialist, travellers are spending 30 per cent more per booking, taking on more extensive meal plans such as all-inclusive, and booking five-star hotels as a majority (45 per cent).

They are also staying for longer, with the average number of nights per stay increasing to five, compared to four nights in previous years, Yalago found.

Strong demand

Astrid Kastberg, GM of Yalago, commented: “With more destinations now open for international travellers, we are seeing incredibly strong demand for all our key destinations. Looking ahead, we are expecting this trend to last as flight capacity continues to expand to reach pre-pandemic levels. This is especially true for some of our key source markets in the Asia-Pacific region, which are yet to return to pre-pandemic flight capacity.

“Through our industry experience and partnerships, we aim to support worldwide travel companies in offering an ever-growing hotel portfolio for leisure travellers. We have built a reputation for our expertise globally, in destinations including Dubai, the Indian Ocean, Florida, Spain, and others, and continue to build on these destinations, alongside new locations across the globe.

“The UAE, USA, Maldives and European cities as an example, remain extremely popular, while in the last couple of months we have seen a considerable increase towards bookings in Southeast Asia. Across Asia, five-star resorts are in demand, yet remain affordable and attractive with our exclusive discounts and value-adds.”

Popular destinations

According to Yalago, the most popular travel destinations for hotel bookings between December 2022 and March, in order of popularity, are Dubai, Phuket, Singapore, Bali, Florida and Spain’s Canary Islands. Meanwhile, cities that were popular for New Year’s Eve were New York City, Paris and London.

In other news, The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi has revealed that a total of 4.1 million hotel visitors stayed in the emirate’s hotels during 2022, which is a 24 per cent rise from 2021.