NEWS


SET FOR ADVENTURE: Clia hosted 90 agents on HX Expeditions’ Fram for the association’s third annual Expedition Cruise Summit. During the event in Dover on Friday, agents attended business sessions including presentations on the history of expedition in Antarctica and a panel with expedition experts who helped dispel myths about the sector. Trade partners then toured the ship, visiting its citizen science laboratory and Zodiac launch area, before a networking lunch. The previous evening, a celebratory dinner was held at Canterbury Cathedral Lodge. Pictured on the Zodiac platform are, from left: Kelly Scrase, Kelly’s Global Getaways; Lisa Vallance, InteleTravel; Adam Scholey, Seabourn; Kelly Pritchard,


InteleTravel; and Denise Parkhouse, Tripse. i HX hosts mega-fam, page 10


‘Complex’ Gulf crisis challenges firms but sales ‘start to recover’


Ian Taylor


The Middle East conflict has defied conventional crisis planning and thrown up a series of challenges requiring travel businesses to “tailor” their responses. That is according to Abta director


for industry affairs Susan Deer, who heads the association’s destination, crisis planning and crisis response teams. Deer told an Abta Travel


latest spending data from Barclays indicated a continuing slowdown in travel outlay amid the Iran war and a squeeze on consumer finances. Monthly data showed travel


spend fell by 5.7% in April – almost double the decline seen in the previous month, itself the first month to see a decline since March 2021. However, leading trade


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Law Seminar in London on Tuesday: “It’s more than two months since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran and from the very first hour the industry was thrust into an operational challenge that has continued ever since.” She argued: “We’ve not seen a neat


progression through a crisis lifecycle. It has been a lot more episodic, with a temporary cessation and then a resumption, so a lot more challenging.” Deer’s comments came as the


travelweekly.co.uk


figures maintained a quietly confident tone. Travel Counsellors chief


executive Steve Byrne told Travel Weekly sales for the past four weeks were up 8% year on


year after an immediate downturn following the beginning of the war, adding: “It seems to be coming back, but there’s no doubt the market is tougher than it was [before the war]. “We still expect to deliver double-


digit growth this year and have a strong platform moving into 2027.” Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said


told the consortium’s conference the industry was in a period of “constraint rather than crisis”, with businesses taking a cautious approach by pausing recruitment or reconsidering growth plans. But she insisted the resilience of


the industry would enable all sectors to continue an upward trajectory despite the headwinds. On the Beach said in a half-year


financial statement that volumes were up 9% in the past six weeks, adding: “Although demand remains more subdued as a result of the conflict, booking activity has stabilised to a more consistent trading pattern since the half-year.” Deer noted “questions around


jet fuel are getting a lot of attention” but added: “The message from the government and airlines is it is not currently an issue.” She also told the Abta seminar


that businesses’ responses to the situation “need to be tailored”.


“We’ve moved from the


immediate crisis response phase, but we’re far from a steady state where we know what is going to happen,” she said. “We’ve moved into something more complex and challenging. Demand is returning, operations are resuming, but there is continuing risk. “Foreign Office advice is still


against all but essential travel [to the Gulf region]. We remain engaged with the Foreign Office, feeding in your views. [But] there is no indication of a change to that in the immediate future.” Asked if the Foreign Office might


clarify its advice for passengers transiting via the Gulf, Deer said Abta had “made strong representations” on that. But she warned against seeking clarification on what constitutes essential travel, saying: “It leaves us with a grey area. What a customer thinks is essential may not match what


you or your insurer thinks is essential.” i Steve Byrne interview, page 6 i Advantage record results, page 6


14 MAY 2026 5


PICTURE: Steve Dunlop


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