The chaos that followed the first few days of the shutdown of Middle Eastern airspace has dissipated, but for those in the travel industry, the pressure remains as itineraries continue to require re-routing, and clients reassurance.
Anecdotal reports from frontline agents have highlighted the different risk levels of diverse clients.
For example, one agent had a client cancel a family Rarotonga booking for Christmas, and lose money, because of the events in the Middle East, while other Kiwi travellers are happy to continue with their planned Emirates flights without incident. And as both agents and clients play the ‘waiting game’ for UK/Europe travel, the biggest issue is said to be finding seat availability, or ‘seat bingo’ as one veteran consultant calls it, and then at what price.
Travel Today understands many agents are trying to hold alternative bookings as clients debate the routing and higher price of new airfares.
. . . No Corporate Drop
Brendan Drury from Orbit World Travel says it’s been a demanding few weeks for consultants, and now everyone is focused on managing changes, tighter inventory and clients needing more reassurance before they travel. “We haven’t seen corporate demand drop off, but cli ents are more cautious and asking more questions about routing.”
It’s a similar situation for Flight Centre New Zealand. The uncertainty surrounding the Middle East has seen a lift in enquiries for Europe travel that transits through Asia and North America, gm Heidi Walker says, adding that people are looking for alternative options so they can still travel on their pre-planned UK/Europe holidays.
“We’ve also seen an increase in closer-to-home destinations such as the South Pacific and Australia.”
. . . Outlook & Oil
As to what the coming weeks and months will look like, it’s hard to comment as Drury says business travellers tend to book last minute.
“It’s still a bit early to see how this will play out.”
Walker is positive, saying Kiwis are resilient travellers, adding that this also highlights the importance of a travel agent to consumers. “As an industry, we’re well versed in navigating change and disruption.”
Others say another big unknown is going to be the impact of the ever-increasing oil prices, especially on long skinny routes like to New Zealand.
