New Research Reveals A Collapse In Travel Bookings Beyond The Middle East
Travel marketing agency Propellic has released its latest Travel Marketing Index: Special Intelligence Briefing, The Impact of the 2026 Middle East Conflict on Travel Marketing.
The report, which draws on 30 days of live performance data across more than 60 middle-market travel brands and 27 destinations, reveals a consistent and alarming pattern: traveller research is surging while booking conversions have collapsed.
The Middle East conflict has created what researchers are calling a “frozen pipeline”. In other words, a structural breakdown between traveller intent and commercial action. Across every Focus region analysed, sessions and impressions have increased significantly, while transactions have fallen to zero or near-zero.
The data suggests that much of the elevated traffic may reflect existing travellers checking cancellation terms and monitoring safety advisories rather than researching new trips in the region.
Key findings include:
• Jordan: 153% increase in sessions while conversion rates dropped 25.81% month-over-month, CGI™ score: 97.99 (maximum recorded gap)
• UAE: +12,766% sessions month-over-month; CTR down 22.6%, CGI™ score: 29.1
• Saudi Arabia: +209% ad spend year-over-year, but click through rate declined 22.6% month over month, CGI™ score: 28.8
The report also identifies the “Mediterranean Sentiment Spillover”, a finding that the confidence crisis has spread well beyond conflict-adjacent destinations. Greece, Spain, and Croatia, none of which are located in the conflict zone, are showing similar patterns, suggesting that broader airspace uncertainty and travel advisory escalations are suppressing European summer booking cycles.
• Greece: 3,225% increase in sessions year-over-year; while conversion rates are down 35.14% month over month.
• Spain: 2,221% increase in sessions year-over-year; while conversion rates are down 47.74% month over month.
“The data is clear,” said John Matson, CRO of Propellic. “Travelers are willing to travel and are actively researching these destinations. They haven’t lost interest. They’ve lost confidence. And that distinction matters enormously for how travel brands should be allocating budget and messaging right now.”
The report identifies geographic cluster (such as in Southeast Asia) that show improvement across both month-over-month and year-over-year timeframes.
The analysis suggests the reason is traveller perception of safety distance from the conflict, rather than traditional destination appeal.
“This pattern would not have been visible by analysing individual destinations in isolation,” said John Matson. “It only becomes clear when you look at the full dataset. And it has significant implications for how travel brands should think about budget allocation over the next 90 days.”
The report draws on 30 days of live performance data across more than 60 middle-market travel brands and 27 destinations, revealing a consistent and alarming pattern: traveler research is surging while booking conversions have collapsed.