Uber announced that the World Cup hosted by Qatar last year contributed to making the Middle East a very attractive destination for hosting mega events, which attracted more tourists from all over the world.
Uber Insights showed that tourists from more than 80 different countries visited the Middle East and North Africa region last year, including 85 in Qatar, 86 in Egypt, 82 in Saudi Arabia and 86 in the UAE. The impact of increased tourism and cooperation between the public and private sectors during these mega-events was also reflected in drivers’ earnings.
Uber revealed new insights into mobility at a press conference in Cairo based on data from the Middle East and North Africa region that show the impact of ride-hailing on tourism, economic growth, and the path towards more sustainable mobility.
The Middle East and North Africa region has witnessed significant growth, especially during 2022, thanks to the region’s potential, its diverse cultural richness, the youthful nature of its population, and its desire to embrace innovation.
The data highlighted the importance and continued need for flexible economic opportunities that would enable drivers to fulfill other obligations and have many flexible earnings sources, especially now due to the difficult global economic conditions.
Of all the drivers who use the platform, 85% in Egypt, 97% in Saudi Arabia, 26% in the UAE and 27% in Qatar drive less than 30 hours per week using the Uber platform as an additional economic opportunity.
“The Middle East and North Africa is one of the key regions that contribute to Uber’s business globally thanks to its ability to welcome innovative technologies,” said Frans Heemstra, Uber’s regional general manager for the Middle East and Africa. Our vision for the region focuses on three main pillars, which is to provide various options for all riders using our platform, who have reached 39 million riders since the launch of Uber in the Middle East and North Africa, to make their experience more seamless.
For drivers, we seek to support them during these unprecedented times by creating new opportunities for them to increase earnings and make them easier to access. As for sustainability, it is our broader goal of making our planet greener as per our 2040 global commitment to make our platform zero emissions. Today, we are proud to share the 2022-2023 results that have contributed to achieving this vision so far.”
Over the past years, Uber has introduced more sustainable features to give riders the ability to request a ride through the app and choose an all-electric vehicle using an UberGreen product, and has made its first commitment in the region in 2022, with the goal of making one in four trips in the UAE empty of emissions by 2030, with 25% of flights.
“This is only the beginning, we need to continue dialogue and cooperation to accelerate the expansion of this transmission across all countries in our region. We are ready to offer our expertise and technologies to serve our planet and to make the world a better place for the next generation,” Heemstra added.
Since its launch in the Middle East and North Africa region, Uber has invested efforts in improving users’ experience on the app. This has resulted in more than 136 million rides ordered across the Middle East and North Africa region receiving a five-star rating. The company also managed to launch several global firsts from the region such as the UberShuttle mass transit feature, which saw a 1.8x growth from 2021 to 2022 in Egypt, and expanded to launch a B2B service for the first time also globally from Egypt in 2022.
