Multi-city travel is gaining momentum among affluent Gulf travellers planning summer journeys around the world’s biggest football tournament, with private aviation marketplace XO reporting a 145% increase in digital enquiries for multi-city itineraries across the United States, Canada, and Mexico compared with the same period last year. The findings point to a shift towards longer, more flexible trips that combine football with business engagements, family holidays, and leisure experiences. XO has also recorded a 13% increase in average planned trip durations, highlighting how travellers are using the tournament as the starting point for extended North American journeys.
Multi-City Travel Demand Rises Across North America
XO, part of UAE-based Vista, the global private aviation group, is seeing increased interest in multi-destination journeys as affluent travellers from the Gulf plan their summer around the football tournament.
The company reports that digital enquiries for multi-city itineraries spanning the United States, Canada, and Mexico have risen by 145% year-on-year. At the same time, enquiries from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) travellers for North America trips across the seven-week period surrounding the tournament have increased by 5%.
The increase in multi-city enquiries, combined with longer planned stays, suggests that travellers are looking beyond individual matches and building broader itineraries around the event.
Rather than flying into one destination for a single fixture and returning home shortly afterwards, many travellers are incorporating several cities and countries into a single journey. These trips can combine match attendance with business commitments, family travel, and leisure activities.
The tournament’s three-country format is contributing to this interest, with the United States, Canada, and Mexico forming the focus of many planned itineraries.
Multi-City Itineraries Extend Beyond Individual Matches
The rise in multi-city travel enquiries indicates that the tournament is influencing how travellers structure their summer holidays.
For affluent Gulf travellers, a football match can become the centrepiece of a longer journey rather than the sole purpose of a trip. Travellers may use the event as an opportunity to coordinate business meetings, spend time with family, and visit multiple destinations during the same period.
XO’s data shows that the demand is not limited to an increase in enquiries for North America. The growth in average planned trip durations also suggests that travellers intend to spend more time in the region.
This combination of broader itineraries and extended stays highlights the changing role of major sporting events in international travel planning.
Multi-City Travel and Longer Stays Shape Gulf Traveller Behaviour
Alongside the increase in digital enquiries, XO has recorded a 13% rise in average planned trip durations.
The data suggests that many travellers are planning extended summer journeys that continue beyond the competition itself. This points to a broader approach to travel, in which the tournament becomes one element of a longer holiday or business itinerary.
The increase in trip duration is particularly relevant when considered alongside the 145% growth in multi-city enquiries. Together, these figures indicate that travellers are considering both more destinations and longer periods away.
For private aviation customers, the ability to organise a journey around several commitments can be an important consideration. Business engagements, family holidays, and sporting events may all form part of the same travel plan.
Saudi Arabia Leads Regional Multi-City Demand
Saudi Arabia is currently leading regional demand, according to XO, with particularly strong interest linked to the national team’s opening fixture in Miami.
The findings indicate that travellers from Saudi Arabia are using the tournament as a catalyst for longer North American itineraries, rather than planning journeys around a single match alone.
These trips may bring together football, business engagements, family holidays, and travel across multiple destinations. This reflects the wider pattern identified by XO, in which sporting events can become a focal point for more extensive international journeys.
The reported interest linked to the opening fixture in Miami also highlights the role that individual matches can play in shaping travel plans across the broader tournament period.
Multi-City Travel Flexibility Influences Booking Behaviour
The latest enquiry patterns reflect a wider shift in how globally mobile individuals organise international travel. Flexibility is becoming increasingly important as schedules, priorities, and personal commitments change.
For travellers planning journeys across several cities and countries, arrangements may need to accommodate different activities and destinations within a single itinerary.
XO’s technology-enabled marketplace is designed to support this type of travel planning. It combines real-time operator availability, dynamic pricing intelligence, and demand visibility with access to a wide range of aircraft options.
These capabilities enable members and clients to build and adapt complex, multi-destination journeys around major events, business commitments, and personal travel.
Technology Supports More Flexible Multi-City Itineraries
As travellers coordinate several destinations, technology-enabled booking platforms can help them explore available options and adjust plans as requirements evolve.
XO’s marketplace brings together operator availability and pricing intelligence, allowing clients to consider aircraft options when organising their journeys.
The company’s Chief Business Officer, Youssef Mouallem, said the 145% increase in multi-city itinerary enquiries reflects a growing preference for flexibility, with travellers combining football, business, and leisure across multiple destinations.
He also noted that technology-enabled booking platforms are giving clients greater ability to adapt their plans as schedules change.
For XO, the trend reinforces the importance of flexible booking solutions for customers whose travel plans extend beyond a single destination or event.
Multi-City Travel Reflects a Broader Evolution in Luxury Mobility
The growth in multi-city enquiries is part of a wider shift in how affluent travellers approach international mobility.
Rather than treating sport, business, and leisure as separate trips, travellers are increasingly combining these priorities into longer journeys. Major sporting events can provide a focal point around which other activities and destinations are organised.
This approach allows travellers to structure their time around several objectives, potentially extending their stay and visiting multiple locations during one period of travel.
XO’s findings suggest that the current football tournament is contributing to this behaviour among Gulf travellers planning journeys to North America.
Lessons from the 2022 Tournament in Qatar
The current trend also builds on patterns observed during the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
During that event, XO recorded a 146% increase in flights into the country, with demand accelerating as multi-city travel intensified during the tournament.
The earlier experience provides context for the latest findings, illustrating how a major sporting event can influence private aviation demand and travel patterns.
While the current data highlights growth in digital enquiries for multi-city itineraries across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the 2022 figure relates to flights into Qatar. The measures therefore describe different aspects of travel demand.
Together, the findings demonstrate XO’s use of proprietary data to identify changes in traveller behaviour around major international events.
Multi-City Travel Data Offers Early Insight into Changing Demand
XO’s proprietary data provides early visibility into how major events can influence travel planning across key markets.
The latest figures show a 145% year-on-year increase in digital enquiries for multi-city itineraries spanning the United States, Canada, and Mexico, alongside 5% growth in GCC enquiries for North America travel during the seven-week tournament period.
The 13% increase in average planned trip durations adds another dimension to the findings, suggesting that travellers are planning longer stays alongside more complex itineraries.
Saudi Arabia is currently leading regional demand, with strong interest associated with the national team’s opening fixture in Miami.
As the tournament progresses, traveller behaviour may continue to evolve, providing further insight into the relationship between global sporting events, luxury travel, and international mobility.
Multi-City Journeys Take Centre Stage in Summer Travel Planning
The latest findings from XO highlight how the football tournament is shaping summer travel plans among affluent Gulf travellers.
The substantial increase in multi-city enquiries, combined with longer planned stays, suggests that many travellers are treating the competition as the starting point for more extensive North American journeys.
Business engagements, family holidays, and leisure experiences are increasingly being planned alongside match attendance, while technology-enabled booking platforms help customers explore and adapt complex itineraries.
With Saudi Arabia currently leading regional demand, XO’s data illustrates the growing role of major sporting events in shaping private aviation travel patterns.
As travellers continue to combine multiple destinations and priorities into their summer plans, flexibility and multi-city travel are emerging as defining features of the luxury travel experience.
Ahmed Abdul Wasey
Managing Editor, Eat ‘N Stays
Ahmed Abdul Wasey is the Managing Editor in Eat ‘N Stays, overseeing all editorial coverage of travel, hospitality, and food across Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf region. He sets the publication’s editorial direction and reviews coverage across hotels, restaurants, tourism, cruise, and industry news before it publishes.
Have a story tip, correction, or question about our coverage? Reach Ahmed directly at pr@eatnstays.com.
