Trifter

The travel industry in the Middle East, comprising airlines, NTO’s and travel agents have pinned their hopes to the summer season this year. The scorching weather coupled with holiday season makes the approaching months an ideal time to take a vacation. Gulf countries, especially UAE, has a maximum population of foreign expatriates who travel either to go back home or prefer to go on a leisure holiday. School holidays and the extreme hot weather also contribute to the numbers. Though leisure travel has been hit the world over, the outbound industry in the Middle East is hopeful for a positive outbound season. In a scenario of slow paced growth and losses, Australia, in the first two months of 2009, witnessed a 20 per cent increase in its tourist traffic from the GCC. Andrew Oldfield, manager – distribution development (gulf countries), Tourism Australia said, “Australia is expecting a good summer and it has started off with a bang. In the past, air capacity to Australia has always been an issue for people from the GCC. However, this summer we will see tremendous growth from airlines, who are providing additional capacity, Emirates is now flying 63 times a week ex Dubai to four Australian cities which is up from 49 last summer, while Etihad now flies 21 times a week ex Abu Dhabi to three Australian cities. Not to mention the additional flights that SQ, TG, CX, MH are operating from the region. This additional capacity will make Australia more accessible and affordable for the GCC countries.

The Australian dollar has devalued and the ease of getting an Australian visa will surely contribute to a great summer.” Joining this optimistic bandwagon, Karim El Sanadily, regional manager – Gulf region & Lebanon, Austrian Airlines is looking forward to a positive summer notwithstanding both local and global financial situation. Sure, it will not be as buoyant as last few summers, but people will continue travelling for leisure purpose, maybe with reduced spending capacity. “Austrian Airlines will try to help both its travel partners and the customers to fix a travel plan which can fit well into traveller’s budget and help him enjoy his vacation without any extra cost,” he said. Shakir N Kantawala, regional manager – sales and marketing – Gulf, Middle East and Africa, Jet Airways sees a good summer ahead for the UAE travel industry. Foreign expatriates, of all nationalities, residing in the UAE as well as the local nationals, in the past six months, have had a tough time. To reduce their stress levels, a short holiday will definitely form a part of their plans in the coming months. The leisure and holiday segment just needs that little stimulus to kickstart into action. “Summer 2009 will offer holidays at extremely attractive rates, as worldwide airfares, hotels and ground arrangements will be available at very competitive rates. Short haul travel will be the flavour of the season and with that in mind, I am sure that this summer, more travellers from the UAE will travel to India and the Far-East. Everybody needs to rejuvenate after a bad phase, and summer 2009 will provide that opportunity,” he said. However, treating the approaching summers with more caution, Vinay Nambiar, area manager – UAE, Kingfisher Airlines feels that the prevailing economic factors will surely affect the leisure travel this summer. “The long-haul leisure movement will shrink to shorter holidays and nearby destinations. It’s a good opportunity for bargains as not only the airlines, but even the hotels and ground operators are feeling the heat,” Nambiar maintains stating that “it will only be by July end that the full impact of recession can be assessed and thus company executives may avoid travelling altogether.” While airlines on one hand are optimistic about the summer travel trends, agents and tour operators on the other are going to concentrate on value added services, making the most of available bargains this year. The volume, they all agree, is going to be less as compared to last year, but things might not be as bad as being feared. Sharing his plans for the summer, Ranjith P V, divisional manager, Al – Reyami Travel and Tourism, said, “As the GSA for Kerala Tourism Development Corporation in the UAE, our target, this summer is to promote Kerala to not only the nationals of UAE but also to the other expatriates. We will also focus on school and college students, including botanical research students, informing them that Kerala has so much to offer from houseboats, trekking to other adventure activities, wildlife and nature. We will, however, be offering promotional packages to give fillip to outbound travel.

These packages will also focus on cruises as they have become more affordable than ever.” Jamal Abdulnazar, general manager, SATA said, “Frankly, we at SATA have not felt the effect of financial downfall. We are eagerly looking forward to the summer season. We, in the past, have faced similar situation due to war and other conflicts but even during that time, people did travel during summer months. The need of the hour is more innovation in packaging and offer value for money deals to your clients. Those who plan and book early are already out in the market.” This summer is very promising for Lama Tours who are taking a proactive approach with its holiday’s division – Lama Holidays offering special packages for UAE Dubai  residents, promising to give them more value for money. Kulwant Singh, managing partner, Lama Desert Tours & Cruises said, “We look forward to catering to a large number of local and Arab expatriates. Our clients also include midclass and even budget markets. We are also expecting lots of last minute bookings.” Close on the heels of Singh’s predictions is Vishal Sood, director – business development and contracting, Royal Park Tourism who represents Russian tourism in the UAE and who is all geared for the summers. “With attractive tactical offers by hotels and airline, this summer looks good.” Current economic situation shall impact premium travel class more than budget travel. Moses Vijaya Kumar, general manager, Uranus Travel and Tours says that the inbound industry has been worse hit than the outbound. “Far East is still doing quite well as Indian expatriates tend to spend part of their vacation at home in India and the rest in some destination in the Far East. Far East does relatively well with Indian expats because of its geographical proximity to India as well as value for money. We are expecting some last minute bookings,” he said. From launching new campaigns to opening new hotels and resorts, Singapore is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that flow of traffic from the Middle East is constant. Jason ONG, area director – Middle East & Africa, Singapore Tourism Board said, “Singapore has enjoyed a year on year increase in visitor arrivals from the Middle East. However, we are mindful of the current economic situation, and new initiatives such as the ‘2009 Reasons to Enjoy Singapore’ campaign to highlight Singapore as a value for money destination have been launched. Singapore is constantly reinventing itself. This year, new hotels such as The Capella Singapore – a 6 star luxury resort – and the Ibis Singapore have been launched to offer travellers a wide range of quality accommodation. New shopping experiences such as the revamped Orchard Road – Asia’s premier shopping district enhances our reputation as a shopper’s paradise.

For Summer 2009, we are optimistic that our signature events such as the Great Singapore Sale and the Singapore Food Festival will continue to attract visitors from the Middle East.” Recording the highest growth from the GCC region last year with an average of 40-80 per cent during summer and 20 per cent average for the whole year, Korea is all set to use the depreciation in its currency value to its full advantage and lure tourists with promises of more shopping at better value. “Due to the devaluation in Korean currency, the country is now cheaper by over 30 per cent compared to the last year. The hotels as well as shopping centres have become attractive for foreign tourists. This depreciation in currency followed by Korea’s position as a leading electronic destination has brought lots of Asian tourists. Another interesting phenomenon that we have noticed this year is a new breed of family travellers – who dash in for five days for a quick shopping trip. This trend started in February 2009. We are, therefore, optimistic that 2009 will be our best year compared to the last 4 years since opening our regional office,” said James Park, deputy director, Korean Tourism. Sharing his views for the year ahead, Pascal J Lepetre, director, French Tourism said, “We expect this season to be pretty good as it is basically the expatriate population that has been affected whereas the locals are still doing quite well. Dubai market is definitely down but to compensate Abu Dhabi has picked up. We approximately have 25 distributors from Europe exhibiting at the ATM hence overall; we expect the show to be quite good. The early Ramadan this year will make the holidays shorter.” Having registered a growth of almost 65 per cent in the last five years, Austria is optimistic that this year too will show growth as well and plans to go all out to ensure that there is no decline in numbers. “We are quite optimistic about the year and are hopeful of ending the year at a break even, i.e., if there won’t be an increase there will definitely not be a decrease as well. This summer, since the Ramadan will start from August 20, Arabs, no matter in which corner of the world they are, will come back to their respective countries. Hence, the season will start two weeks early and would end two weeks in advance,” said Klaus Ehrenbrandtner, director, Austrian National Tourist Office. Talking about India Tourism initiatives for 2009, C Gangadhar, assistant director, India Tourism Dubai said, “We are calling the year 2009 as ‘Visit India Year’ under which a plethora of facilities are being offered. Ministry of tourism – India along with associations such as IATO (Indian Associations of Tour Operators), TAFI (Travel Agents Federation of India) and TAAI (Travel Agents Association of India) are rendering support to make this campaign successful. To help make summer season more lucrative, the tour operators are offering special prices.

 We are exhibiting at the ATM (Arabian Travel Mart) on a large scale with almost forty tour operators within the India pavilion. We would also be hosting a buyers sellers meeting in the evening during the ATM.” Simon Mills, director- Northern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Hong Kong Tourism Board is not gung ho when asked about the summer season. He said, “We anticipate a challenging summer. HKTB will be undertaking a number of tactical promotions with some of the main operators in the region to drive visits to Hong Kong. When combined with our ongoing activities, this will ensure that Hong Kong has greater visibility but the economic conditions are not particularly favourable.” Heba Al Ghais Al Mansoori, director – Middle East, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau said, “Things are looking up for Sri Lanka this summer as the country is on the threshold of lasting peace. The global economic recession is likely to have a significant impact on where Arabs and expatriates alike choose to spend their vacation this summer. As an alternative to expensive summer vacations in Europe or Caribbean cruises, consumers might choose to spend less and select a destination closer to home. Sri Lanka is just a little over three hours flying time away offers the right solution.” She further informed, “SLTPB has initiated a series of programmes and initiatives to further boost tourism from the Middle East to Sri Lanka including exhibition participation, marketing visits, presentations and roadshows, advertising, brochure distribution, public relations, as well as familiarisation visits to the island for influential business and travel journalists.” Tour operators are offering special prices to lure travellers Klaus Ehrenbrandtner, director, Austrian National Tourist Office Shakir N Kantawala, regional manager – sales and marketing – Gulf, ME and Africa, Jet Airways Simon