NEWS TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM THE BACK
Tanzer said tourism to the
EU over the past 25 years had been a “huge success” and that the industry was committed to maintaining that success. “I believe there is a major opportunity for the UK to establish ourselves as the pre- eminent organisers of travel, whether that means running airports, delivering sustainable aviation, managing complex accommodation supply chains, or keeping customers safe and confident to book.” However, he earlier warned
that the government was “creaking under the weight of work” after the new Package Travel Regulations came into force six months late, adding: “(This left) only a short time for the industry to see the final shape of the regulations. This really is unsatisfactory, and my concern is that as the legislative focus shifts from Brussels to Westminster there will be insufficient resource to meet industry’s needs.” Tanzer said the solution
was not to hurry legislation through by cutting back on consultation time. “This may produce a short-term result, but the long-term damage will outweigh any gain,” he said. The Abta chief praised the CAA
for its handling of the Monarch failure, but again questioned the government’s decision to repatriate all its customers. “We work very closely
with the CAA, as the principal regulator of our sector, and I can say that we were impressed with the operational handling of the Monarch failure. “What was less welcome was the surprise political decision to repatriate all Monarch customers, and the uncertainty about who was going to pay for it. We’re very pleased the government is looking again at the issue of airline insolvency.”
Abta Travel Matters Conference 2018: Brexit, PTRs and Heathrow
Spending on travel ‘grows faster than other sectors’
Growth on spending on travel is outpacing other leisure activities, with bookings for next year hugely up year on year, research suggests. Year-on-year consumer spend
with travel agents in May was 13% higher overall – 18% up via online agents and 8% up in-store. The overall figure was higher
than growth in nine other sectors, including restaurants, cinemas and household appliances. The research, collated by
Barclaycard, showed airline spend up 9% overall – 10% online and 3%in-store. Overall leisure spend was up 5%, with pubs seeing a 12.5% increase and gambling 9%. Spend on household appliances was down 17%, while theatres saw a year-on-year drop of 3%. Martin Alcock, director at the
Travel Trade Consultancy, told delegates the findings for travel bucked the general picture on the high street, where one in five listed retail companies have issued profit warnings, and a number of
‘Be wary about piling capacity back into Turkey’
Operators were advised to be cautious about putting too much capacity back into Turkey. Summer 2018 bookings up until June 16 for the destination were almost 80% ahead of last year, according to industry analyst GfK. Turkey is leading a resurgence
of holidays in the eastern Mediterranean, which was 16% up overall. Greece bookings were also 12% ahead on last year, while the
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travelweekly.co.uk 5 July 2018
ALCOCK: ‘Turkey has always been susceptible to wobbles’
Canaries were 6% down. Travel Trade Consultancy
director Martin Alcock said the resurgence in the eastern Mediterranean was relieving pressure on Spain, which last
13%
Increase on spending with travel agents in May year on year
chains have been forced to close. “Travel is way ahead in terms of spend, so people are spending more than in some of the other sectors,” he said. “This underlines that people want to travel.”
STATISTICS: Spending growth on travel outpaced that on pubs, theatres and gambling in the year to May, Travel Matters delegates heard
Passenger bookings and average
selling prices for this summer are also ahead of last year, as are forward bookings for winter and summer 2019. Figures from industry analyst
GfK showed summer bookings and prices for the year to June 16 were up 6%, while winter bookings were 11% ahead. Bookings for summer 2019
were 40% ahead of 2017. “That’s a lot of people committing to a big spend almost 18 months before (they go on holiday),” Alcock said.
August saw hotel occupancy higher than any time since 1999. However, he warned: “We have
to be careful with Turkey as a destination because it has always been susceptible to wobbles.” He cited recent FCO advice
which was updated ahead of the presidential elections last month. It warned tourists to take care and be aware of any disruption. The advice resulted in bookings “dropping off a cliff” in the immediate days after it was issued. Alcock said: “That’s where
operators have to be careful about putting all their eggs in one basket.”
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