Insights / Travel and Hospitality

Which Languages Should Hospitality Translation Cover First?

Source-market data shows which languages Gulf and Nordic travel brands should add first, and which pages to translate before anything else.

Quick Answer

Hospitality translation should start with English, the local language and the languages of your largest source markets. For Saudi Arabia, data points to Arabic, Urdu and Indonesian. For Nordic destinations, German leads, followed by Swedish, Dutch and Danish. Translate the booking flow, policies and safety information first, then scale listings with machine translation and human post-editing.

Travel brands often translate the homepage and stop. Guests then meet English at checkout, in the cancellation policy and in the safety card. This guide uses official source-market data to rank languages for hospitality translation, then sets out what to translate first and where machine translation fits.

Why Does Hospitality Translation Affect Bookings?

Guests buy more readily in their own language. In a CSA Research survey of 8,709 consumers in 29 countries, 76% preferred buying products with information in their own language. 40% said they never buy from websites in other languages. 65% preferred content in their language even if the quality was poor.

The survey covered online shopping in general, not travel alone. Its other findings still map to hospitality: 73% wanted product reviews in their language, and 75% were more likely to buy again when customer care spoke their language.

The audience is large. UN Tourism counted 1.52 billion international tourist arrivals in 2025, up 4% on 2024. Europe received 793 million, and the Middle East came close to 100 million.

Which Languages Should Gulf Destinations Prioritize?

Gulf destinations should pair Arabic and English with the languages of their biggest inbound markets, which differ sharply between Saudi Arabia and Dubai.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia recorded 122 million domestic and international tourists in 2025, according to Ministry of Tourism preliminary estimates, and targets 150 million a year by 2030. Skift reports that the 2030 goal splits into 80 million domestic and 70 million international visitors.

Domestic travel drives volume, so Arabic comes first. Argaam’s breakdown puts 2025 at 93.3 million domestic and 29.3 million inbound tourists. The top inbound markets were Egypt (3.2 million), Pakistan (2.8 million), India (2.0 million), Indonesia (2.0 million) and Kuwait (1.8 million). Europe sent 2.9 million.

That mix argues for Modern Standard Arabic in policies, Gulf-flavored Arabic in marketing for Saudi and Kuwaiti guests, and Egyptian Arabic where tone matters for Egyptian visitors. Urdu and Indonesian are strong next candidates, with English as the shared fallback.

Dubai and the UAE

Dubai welcomed 19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025, per the Department of Economy and Tourism. Western Europe supplied 21%. The GCC, CIS and Eastern Europe, and South Asia each supplied 15%. MENA added 11%, and Northeast and Southeast Asia 9%.

For Dubai, that means English and Arabic, then Russian for CIS travelers, German and French for Western Europe, and Chinese for Northeast Asia.

Which Languages Matter for European and Nordic Markets?

German is the first language to add for Nordic destinations, because German travelers are the largest foreign market in Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Norway: Statistics Norway recorded a record 14.2 million foreign guest nights in 2025, up 14%. Germany led with 2.6 million, then Sweden (1.3 million), the Netherlands (985,000), the UK (977,000) and Denmark (896,000). Asian guest nights rose 30% to 1.2 million.
Sweden: Visit Sweden reports 70.8 million total overnight stays in 2025, with Germany the largest foreign market at 3.7 million.
Finland: Visit Finland data for January to November 2025 lists Germany (708,200 nights), Sweden (617,300), the US (536,400), the UK (504,600), France (378,000) and the Netherlands (371,400).

Nordic travelers also visit each other. Swedes rank second in both Norway and Finland, so Swedish deserves a place on Norwegian and Finnish sites. For Norwegian content, choose Bokmal or Nynorsk on purpose rather than by default.

Language Priorities by Destination

Destination	Top Source Markets in 2025 Data	Languages to Consider First
Saudi Arabia	Egypt, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Kuwait	Arabic (MSA, Gulf, Egyptian), English, Urdu, Indonesian
Dubai	Western Europe, GCC, CIS and Eastern Europe, South Asia	English, Arabic, Russian, German, French
Norway	Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, UK, Denmark	Norwegian, English, German, Swedish, Dutch, Danish
Sweden	Germany (largest foreign market)	Swedish, English, German
Finland	Germany, Sweden, US, UK, France, Netherlands	Finnish, Swedish, English, German, French, Dutch

Treat this as a starting point. Your own booking and search data should decide the final order.

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What Content Should you Translate First?

Translate the pages where guests pay, commit or face risk before anything else. Work in this order:

Booking flow and payment pages. A guest who cannot read the terms may abandon the purchase here.
Cancellation, refund and house policies. Unclear terms invite disputes.
Safety and emergency information. Room cards, evacuation notes, excursion briefings and app alerts.
Confirmation and pre-arrival messages. Check-in times, transfers, documents to bring.
Menus and allergen notes. Have kitchen staff confirm every ingredient term.
Review responses. Reply in the reviewer’s language where you can.
Destination guides and marketing pages. These build demand, so localize tone, not only words.

How Should you Use MT Post-Editing for High-Volume Listings?

Use machine translation for volume and human post-editing for anything that affects money, safety or trust. Platforms with thousands of room types, tours or property listings cannot translate each one by hand. Raw machine output, though, can garble amenity names, local place names and policy terms.

ISO 18587:2017 sets requirements for full human post-editing of machine translation and for post-editor competence. ISO lists it as due for revision.

A practical split:

Full post-editing: policies, safety content, payment pages, legal terms
Light post-editing: listing descriptions, amenity lists, itinerary summaries
Human translation or transcreation: brand campaigns, slogans, video scripts

Support every tier with a glossary and a do-not-translate list for property names, brand terms and room categories. Feed post-editor corrections back into the glossary so the same error does not repeat.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Many Languages Should a Hotel Website Offer?

Start with English, the local language and the two or three languages of your largest source markets. Use official tourism statistics for your destination, then check them against your own booking data. Add more languages only when you can maintain them.

Is Machine Translation Good Enough for Travel Listings?

Raw machine translation is risky for policies, prices and safety content. For descriptive listings, machine translation with human post-editing is a workable middle ground. A glossary keeps amenity and place names consistent.

Which Arabic Should Travel Brands Use?

Use Modern Standard Arabic for policies, terms and safety notices. For marketing aimed at Gulf guests, Gulf Arabic phrasing reads closer to home. Egyptian visitors were Saudi Arabia’s largest inbound market in 2025, so Egyptian Arabic suits campaigns aimed at them.

Do Nordic Travelers Need Content in Their Own Language?

CSA Research found 76% of consumers prefer buying with information in their own language. Swedes rank second among foreign guests in both Norway and Finland. That makes Swedish pages a practical addition for both destinations.

How Afrasia Trans Can Help

Afrasia Trans covers the languages your guests speak, with one team for 150+ languages across Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. We work by market and dialect: Gulf, Egyptian and Levantine Arabic alongside MSA, and Norwegian Bokmal or Nynorsk. Our translation, localization and MT post-editing solutions cover booking flows, policies, menus and high-volume listings. Our voice-over and subtitling solutions cover safety and destination videos. See the full list of languages we support, then request a quote for your next market.

About the Author

Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah writes the Afrasia Trans industry guides on media, gaming, AI data, life sciences, legal and travel localization.

Sources

This article is for general information only. It is not legal, regulatory or medical advice.

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