The Arabian Travel Market is currently underway in Dubai, and at the gathering, Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa, has revealed its latest destination rankings based on user search data.
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The results, covering the first four months of 2025, show Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and India retaining their top positions as the most popular international travel destinations for Middle East travellers.
Egypt continues its uninterrupted reign at the top, a position it has held since Wego began tracking destination popularity in 2014. Saudi Arabia remains in second place, while India maintains third place. India’s strong showing is attributed to its large diaspora in the Middle East, alongside recent developments in flight connectivity, including new routes from IndiGo, Akasa Air, and Royal Jordanian to Abu Dhabi, Delhi, and Mumbai.
Mamoun Hmidan, Chief Business Officer at Wego, commented: “Egypt and Saudi Arabia have consistently held leading positions on our platform, a reflection of their strong outbound and domestic travel appetite, well-established tourism infrastructure, and year-round demand. This upward trend has remained steady for over a decade, supported by increased connectivity and evolving traveller preferences. India, securing third place, underscores the influence of its vast and growing diaspora, especially within the Middle East.”
The biggest climber is Syria, which has surged 30 places to enter the top 10 following the resumption of international flights from Damascus and Aleppo. Qatar Airways has reported a 90 percent seat occupancy rate on its Doha to Damascus route, with further direct flights to the UAE commencing in April.
Nepal also recorded notable growth, climbing 12 places to 21st position, supported by the opening of Pokhara International Airport to its first international passengers in the first quarter of 2025.
Elsewhere, the United States dropped two places to 20th, with travel interest declining further in March and April. Wego attributes this fall to stricter visa and border policies introduced since late 2024. Los Angeles experienced the steepest decline among US cities, though Miami bucked the trend with an increase in travel interest.
Within Europe, the United Kingdom has retained its status as the top European destination for Middle East travellers for 36 consecutive months, despite losing six places in the overall rankings compared to 2023. Increased air passenger duty costs have been cited as a factor impacting demand.
Wego’s analysis is based on tens of millions of trip searches and bookings by Middle East users between January and April 2025.
