News Just In: Millennials in UAE Most Vacation Deprived

Findings published today by Expedia in its 24th Vacation Deprivation report, which takes a deep dive into the UAE market for the first time, showed UAE Millennial residents have a higher percentage of vacation deprivation than Gen Zers. Further more Gen Zers globally are more vacation deprived than any other generation.

So, why is this?

“Despite receiving more than six weeks of annual leave from their employers and using all of it UAE residents still feel vacation deprived” says Melanie Fish, head of Expedia Group brands public relations. “Millennial workers have difficulties planning a vacation - 57% feel overwhelmed by the process and find booking travel stressful because they never know if they’re getting a good deal. There’s so much choice that contemplating travel options can become a major mental burden. Our minds want shortcuts, that’s why the Expedia app helps travelers with every step of their travel journey.”

For today’s youngest workforce, Gen Z, the biggest thing holding them back is saving for a big trip this year. While being money-conscious is not exclusive to any particular generation, it’s most prevalent in Gen X with (34%) saying they much prefer saving their money for a more fulfilling trip, versus just 29% of Millennials and 27% of Gen Zers.

This all said, UAE Millennial residents are not as vacation deprived as other Europeans and leave the fewest amount of days behind. International vacation deprivation has remained the same in 2023, with approximately two-thirds of employed professionals saying they feel somewhat or very vacation deprived. ​

For UAE’s Millennials, 50% feel holiday deprived according to Expedia’s report, so with half the nation yearning for more holidays, it is perhaps not a surprise given that 32% of went a full year without a holiday last year.

When it comes to gender, millennial women also feel just a little more vacation deprived than men (58% versus 57%). The top reasons for Millennials of both genders for not going on holiday are that they are saving for a bigger vacation this year (29%), saving time off for unexpected leave (27%) and have difficulties in balancing work schedules or workloads due to shortages in staffing (26%).

International travel destinations are where most Millennials spend their holiday days (52%). However, their perfect make up of annual trips would be to take two long weekends, four one weeklong holidays and two 14 days holidays per year.

Positively for us all, Expedia’s report showed that UAE employers are doing a good job of encouraging people to take holiday days, with between 80% to 81% of Millennial and Gen Z workers respectively feel their employer is supportive of them taking holidays.