UKinbound Convention: The chief executives of a range of inbound businesses Continued from page 56


access to financing for SAF infrastructure projects. It urged governments to


accelerate development of SAF; to certify new aircraft and engines to allow 100%-SAF use; to consider incentives to support SAF deployment; and to support changes to airport and energy supply infrastructure. Walsh insisted: “Governments


must not lose the momentum that has driven this assembly. The costs of decarbonising aviation are in trillions of dollars and the timeline to transition a global industry is long. “Governments must work


with industry to implement a global policy framework capable of attracting the financial resources needed.” Heathrow chief executive


John Holland-Kaye also hailed “a historic moment” but said: “To scale SAF we need government mandates and price incentives.” However, Brussels-based


environmental lobby group Transport & Environment (T&E) greeted the outcome of the assembly as “an empty goal” and “hugely disappointing” and described Corsia as a “cheap offsetting scheme”. It accused the assembly of


“watering down the only tool at their disposal” to address aviation’s climate impact with an offsetting scheme that would see “a mere 22% of total international emissions” offset by 2030. T&E aviation director Jo


Dardenne said: “This is not aviation’s ‘Paris Agreement’. ICAO continues to adapt its measures for the benefit of the industry and not the climate.” She called on governments


and specifically the EU to “see through this smokescreen”.


Shortage of staff is ‘biggest issue facing travel sector’


The overriding issue facing inbound travel businesses is a shortage of staff leading to acute problems with supply, say industry leaders. The heads of tour operators and


destination management companies meeting at the UKinbound Convention in Aberdeen returned to the problem repeatedly in a round-table debate on the challenges facing the sector. One tour operator chief executive


argued: “Demand is there but the supply isn’t. We have good-quality hotels operating four nights a week because they don’t have the staff. That has taken out a load of supply. “The labour issues are not going


to end anytime soon. We have this unique opportunity [to sell], but how can we get the product and deliver the experience? That is the biggest issue. “I don’t know how we’re going to


solve it. There are a lot of initiatives to try to get people back into the industry. But at the end of the day, there are more jobs than people.” A destination management head


said: “We see hotels coming out of the supply chain, particularly those at a price point attractive for groups. At the top end, a lot of hotels are only operating on certain days of the week. One of my main hotels doesn’t do any service at all on a Monday.” A second destination


management chief said: “We have three hotels on our patch taken for government business. Two were key for groups because they have coach parking, so we’re seeing the wrong supply come out of the market. And while there are new hotels opening,


Some hotels


now operate only on certain days of the week


a lot are budget brands which are no help to operators. “Whereas pre-pandemic we had a


clear picture of supply and demand, now we have eight to 10 hotels with question marks against when they’re going to open.” Another operator argued: “Clients


have been more understanding this year. Everyone accepted there were going to be teething problems after Covid. But we can’t have that again.” An excursion provider agreed,


saying: “Customers increasingly expect a normal level of service,


Suppliers hold off pricing for 2023 amid costs uncertainty


Pricing inbound holidays for 2023 is proving difficult with suppliers reluctant to commit to prices far in advance amid rapidly rising costs. The head of one tour operator


highlighted the problem, saying: “We do a lot with the US market, so we’re smiling with the exchange rate, but we have hotels that won’t quote for us for the end of next year. They’re working just 12 months ahead.” She said: “Hotels don’t want


to commit to pricing because they 54 13 OCTOBER 2022


don’t know what their energy costs will be.” The head of a destination


management company agreed, arguing: “We’re closing quotes now for 2023 and my base price for quoting is made up because I don’t know the price of hotels, I don’t know the price of guides, and it could be a margin catastrophe. “We’ve lots of data but it’s no


good in this situation. I’m having calls with major clients saying, ‘This is the price, it might go up, it


might go down, and if you don’t like it, you can go elsewhere.’” He said: “There is a fear of missing


out. But each of us has to decide what we’re prepared to work for.” The head of a destination


management organisation reported: “A lot of enquiries are coming through for 2024 and 2025 for meetings and events and we’ve had to tell hoteliers, ‘Come up with a price or we don’t quote, we don’t bid and that business doesn’t come in.’”


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