Tourism Breaking News
The past few weeks saw a hike in airfares especially in the UAE. As an expat populated destination, the short breaks are always popular, and this continues year on year.
Hitherto known destinations, have become the best escapes for the UAE travellers over the past few years. Georgia started off this campaign offering visa on arrival for residents of the UAE. Following them, other destinations too wanted a piece of the business, hence employed similar tactics to attract this huge expat market by ensuring they provide either visa on arrival or visa free for any nationality with a resident visa from the UAE. However, connectivity is a concern with the rise of the air ticket pricing, yet the number of travellers hasn’t really reduced, especially in the case of the Asian sectors. When it comes to holiday destinations such as Turkey which is a key outbound getaway for UAE travellers the pricing went up to almost 6k return, and Asian destinations, especially India was at a staggering 3k plus. Many travellers opting to spend time with their families back in India over the Eid holidays, are seen to be taking smarter ways by checking in from Ras Al Khaimah or Fujairah. No matter the price, travellers in the UAE would always take a chance to travel. Some travellers have also become smart in the sense that they pre-plan their travel dates almost six months prior so that they can partake in some of the best deals. What are the criteria for all this drama? What becomes of the families who wish to travel? Is there a balance between supply and demand? Well, we spoke with some of the key agents who shared their comments.
A key concern to Asian destinations such as India, is that unlike pre-covid times, the seat capacity is still not what is used to be, partly because the void is still prevalent after some airlines no longer serve the sectors yet. However, plans are still underway for some new Indian carriers to start operations soon. It is important to mention that Dubai based businessman and Founder of Smart Travels, Afi Ahmed is trying to revive an airline for expats especially for those from the southern state in India, Kerala. It was shared earlier this year that Ahmed has paid over one million dirham for the domain name airkerala.com, however when asked about the same, he stated, “I was looking for a domain for my B2C project. I wanted to launch an aggregator website and I was looking for a catchy name when I saw that airkerala.com was available for purchase. I was shocked because Air Kerala is a project that was announced by the Kerala government in 2005 and has been a hot topic among Keralites all over the world for almost two decades.” Sushant Pilankar – Manager Leisure – Uranus Travel, “any time when the air fares are higher the demand is high and capacity is low, the number of travellers has increased and the demand is high and supply is low. Two key factors come into account, one is due to covid, there is still a pent-up demand for travel, secondly the reduction of the supply. We are yet to see the seat capacities increasing from the region. The region has the greatest number of travellers, yet capacities to destinations such as India needs to grow further. From a travel agency perspective higher fare does not mean lower travellers – higher fares means strong forward loads.” Jamal Abdulnasar – CEO – Cozmo Travel, reiterates, “rising air ticket prices can be attributed to increased seasonal demand, limited supply, fuel cost fluctuations, and operational challenges. Curbing the ascent requires market regulation, efficient operations, and strategic planning. Travelers seeking cheaper options may opt for alternative airports with lower operational costs, enabling airlines to offer lower airfares.” Nasir Jamal Khan – CEO – Al Naboodah Travel shares, “it’s normal for travellers to have a strong desire to see their family and friends during the holidays, especially after a gap due to Covid-19 restrictions. The pandemic has taught people the importance of cherishing their relationships and making the most out of their lives. As a result, there has been an increased demand for travel, which is reflected in the number of bookings being made every day. Destinations like Ireland, the Philippines, Turkey, Georgia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and many others are popular choices among travellers.” From a metasearch standpoint, Mamoun Hmedan, CCO and MD, MENA and India, Wego, said: “the average booking value between 1 to 20 June 2023 is around 36% higher than the same period last year. With the average airfare from the UAE starting around $832 during the upcoming Eid Al Adha period. Around 2.5 million searches from the UAE were recorded on our platform for travel between 23 June 2023 to 1 July 2023. The top destinations in demand from the UAE around the Eid period are India, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon, Thailand, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. We see a lot of family and friends travel during the Eid where people are looking to travel back home to see their families especially since it coincides with school breaks. We also observe an increase in the average trip duration to 12 days. To get better airfares, people are either avoiding traveling at the beginning of the Eid break or adding more days to get better bargains. The other countries that are in demand during this period are Azerbaijan, Oman, Great Britain, Indonesia, Bosnia, Qatar, and Nepal where some of these countries are visa on arrival/ visa free for GCC residents and people take advantage of the Eid break to explore such destinations.”
