NEWS


15


RAMADAN HOLIDAYS FACTOR


DINA AL HERAIS OF EMIRATES HOLIDAYS EXPLAINS HOW THE CURRENT SUMMER TIMING OF RAMADAN IS IMPACTING HOLIDAY BOOKING TRENDS


What strategies should be employed during Ramadan? Create and promote value-adds (destinations/products), intro- duce long-stay incentives, intro- duce Ramadan festivals (similar to Dubai) and introduce effec- tive marketing and joint promo- tions with tourism boards.


Can travel companies and destinations actually benefit from the current timing of Ramadan?


Yes, there is an increasing trend of people splitting their previous one long holiday into two or into three shorter breaks/holidays. This works in favour of both airlines and travel companies.


How is the current timing of Ramadan impacting travel patterns and trends among Muslim customers/Arab nationals and expatriates? Ramadan in 2011 is again coin- ciding with the summer holi- days as it did in 2010. Based on current enquiries, forward booking trends and feedback from the markets, we antici- pate a change in the travel pattern in terms of departure date and duration. The majority of GCC nationals and Arab expats are expected to return back to their home countries by the end of July. However, a minority of Arab nationals and non-Muslim expats will take advantage of low season discounts and incentives and have a longer vacation including Ramadan.


There is also an increasing trend of people (mainly couples and honeymooners) bringing their holiday plans forward to avoid coinciding with Ramadan.


What can travel companies do to stimulate travel and avoid a summer slump?


It is pleasing to see that more countries are embracing a Ramadan-friendly approach to encourage Muslim travel- lers from the region. The 'Summer Slump' impact can be minimised through: ¥ Promoting early departures (in the month of June)


¥ Introducing special value- adds in August to encourage passengers to travel during the Ramadan period


¥ Introducing special tactical offers to attract non-Muslim travellers during August to selected destinations


¥ Effectively promoting and increasing Eid bookings


Will people travel during Ramadan and if so, where to and why?


Yes, based on the feedback and forward enquiries we have received, we expect demand for August to our key destinations


few Arabs but mainly non- Muslims of all nationalities. The destinations they will travel to include the Far East, particularly Malaysia, Australia and in partic- ular, the Gold Coast, the Indian Ocean, the Americas and Europe, especially Germany and some of our new destinations, including the Czech Republic and Spain. The key influencing factors driving them to these desti- nations are weather, family activities and the opportunity to experience destination offerings. The increase in travellers over Ramadan results from an increased awareness of the 'Summer Slump' among the travel industry tourism boards, hoteliers, airlines and the travel trade.


What facilities need to be offered to attract Muslim travellers during Ramadan? Prayer facilities in the hotels, ensuring availability of halal food, and early/late dining for fasting guests.


What is Emirates Holidays doing to promote travel during Ramadan?


Emirates Holidays is working closely with tourism boards and its partners throughout the network to promote the key features of the destina- tions that appeal to all target segments. Emirates Holidays will also introduce and promote Ramadan specials to selected destinations.


INDIA LOOKS TO INTERNATIONAL VISITOR TARGETS


Delegates from the Indian Ministry of Tourism held a press conference at Arabian Travel Market to boost the number of foreign visitors to the country. While India has an estimated domestic tourism market of around 600 million, international visitors still only comprise approximately six million per year.


This is despite the coun- try's rich diversity in terms of culture, languages and scenery, while it was acknowledged that some limitations remain in terms of infrastructure. The Indian government is aiming to increase the number of inter-


national visitors substantially over the next five years. One particular focus will be on medical tourism. Guidelines for accreditation were finalised last year, which, it is envisaged, will standardise the quality of health- care across providers. Medical tourism is already significant and the government aims to push the sector further. The Middle East, in particular, is a strong target market because of its close proximity. Compared to the US, Europe and Southeast Asia, India is thought to be most competi- tive in terms of medical costs and currently boasts more than 640,000 medical practitioners.


Dina Al Herais is vice president - commercial of Emirates Holidays


Visit stand AS110 QATAR AIRWAYS REVEALS EXPANSION AMBITIONS


Ambitious airline Qatar Airways has revealed further route and capacity expansion plans. Entebbe in Uganda, Baku in Azerbaijan and Tbilisi in Georgia will join the ever-growing list of countries served by the Doha- based carrier, which celebrated reaching the 100-destination mark last month.


Visit stand ME2670


These three new routes, which take the airline's CEO Akbar Al Baker one step further to reaching his 120 destination goal, will operate daily served by A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration. The Entebbe route launches on November 2 and the Baku service, which continues on to Tbilisi, starts on November 30.


Al Baker said there was "clearly demand and huge potential" in these destinations, "and as a network global carrier, we are able to fulfil the needs of the travelling public from these three countries and for those wanting to travel there from markets we service around the world".


The CEO also announced plans to significantly increase flights to Saudi Arabia at yesterday's Arabian Travel Market with a fourth destination, Medina, unveiled, and a 71 percent increase in frequency to the other three KSA destinations it serves. Medina will be served four times weekly from July 14,


operated by an A320, while both Riyadh and Jeddah services will be upped to twice daily. Qatar Airways will also launch several additional alre- ady-announced routes in 2011 including Shiraz, Venice, Montreal, Kolkata, Sofia and Oslo. Al Baker said the airline, which launched 15 destina- tions in the last 12 months and increased frequencies to existing destinations, was on track to reach the 120 destination goal in just over two years.


He revealed that for 2010- 2011, Qatar Airways carried 16 million passengers and achieved average load factors of 72 percent.


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