OUTLOOK
control in the UK is a concern post-Brexit if tighter measures lead to longer queues at airports. Paris will start taking business from the UK if it becomes tricky for attendees to come into the country – especially from Asia.” The cost per attendee per
day for meetings and events is expected to rise across all global regions including a 6 per cent increase in the EMEA region, as demand for events space continues to outpace supply. BCD Travel agrees that London should continue to dominate in the meetings market with strong demand for the city’s “latest fashionable new venues” including a raft of new hotels. “European hotels may follow the lead of the big chains in
North America by cutting commission to agents. If this happens, expect even more of a shift to the growing portfolio of non-hotel venues,” advises BCD. Despite challenges, the mood
of positivity within the meetings industry is pretty much unanimous. Reggie Aggarwal, founder and chief executive of meetings platform Cvent, says: “Research from our Global Planner Sourcing Report shows that meeting and event budgets have increased year-on-year and the desire to deliver a memorable experience can help override many cost restrictions. “From hotels and venues, I think we’ll see an increased focus on offering groups enhanced amenities, flexible meeting space set-ups, trendy food and beverage menus, increased service levels and unique on-site experiences that can help provide a standout experience.”
AIR TRAVEL Flights could potentially be disrupted should the EU not permit UK-based airlines to operate following a no-deal Brexit, according to the UK government.
In this situation, UK and EU-licensed airlines would technically lose their automatic right to operate UK-EU flights without seeking advance permission. But the Department for Transport (DfT) says it “would envisage granting permission to EU airlines to continue to operate” and “would expect EU countries to reciprocate in turn”. This strategy from the UK government is essentially passing the buck to the EU on whether aircraft will be grounded post-29 March. Despite this impasse, most aviation experts are not seriously expecting air traffic to grind to a halt.
Assuming that there is no Brexit-related disruption to airline services, airfares from
68 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
the UK are expected to rise during 2019 as carriers have to cope with an anticipated higher oil price. There is also growing consolidation (and, therefore, less competition) within the industry, which has seen the demise of weaker players, including Monarch and Primera Air, the Danish carrier that went out of business in October. CWT is anticipating an overall
5.5 per cent rise in UK airfares next year, with the highest increases forecast for economy tickets on both short and long-haul flights. This is above CWT’s predicted global airfare increase of 2.6 per cent and the 4.8 per cent rise anticipated in Western Europe in 2019. Other trends driving the
aviation industry in 2019 will include the continued rollout by airlines of NDC distribution channels as carriers look to reduce their GDS costs. Lufthansa Group has been one of the leaders in this movement, having introduced a fee for all GDS bookings in 2015, and will launch the concept of “continuous pricing” next year. Andreas Koester, senior director sales UK, Ireland & Iceland for Lufthansa Group, says continuous pricing will allow the group’s airlines to offer a greater range of airfares that will “match the willingness to pay of our customers”. “Corporate travellers will increasingly expect personalised offers and we see more UK corporate buyers recognising the importance of this topic by incorporating it in their RFPs [requests for proposal],” adds Koester. “The Lufthansa Group has been a pioneer in enhancing the distribution landscape and this will continue.”
Other likely airline trends include the addition of more ultra long-haul routes, such as Qantas’s Heathrow-Perth route and Singapore Airlines’ flights from Singapore to New York, and a continued financial
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