It's all about the families – at least at the annual Arabian Travel Market convention held in Dubai last week.

And it's no wonder, according to a survey released by YouGov this week that shows families in the Middle East and North Africa are taking some serious vacation time.

familytraveltrends

The survey of 2,000 MENA residents found that 64 percent had traveled with their children in the last 12 months - taking an average of two trips per year.

No wonder Dubai is building Legoland - that's a lot of tykes to entertain.

YouGov ME's research director Scott Booth presented the results on the first day of ATM 2015 in a panel discussion on how the Middle East can cash in on the family travel market. The theme of this year's ATM was family travel.

“Our research looked at how behaviour and preferences change when travelling with children, and with children of different ages, and this was a good springboard for discussion,” Booth said. “Those who are married with or without children are more likely to have visited Egypt or India on their last leisure trip. Those married with children are more likely to have visited UAE on their last trip compared to those married without children."

The survey found that respondents with younger children (under 13) travel more frequently – taking three or more annual trips – than those with teenagers. Can you blame them?