Executives in the tourism sector believe that airfares have virtually reached their pinnacle and will begin to decline after the summer season ends.
Pent-up demand in the wake of the epidemic, rising energy prices, and a surge in “revenge” tourism over the past two years have all contributed to skyrocketing airfares.
We expect supply bottlenecks to be resolved and ticket prices to return to more normal levels by the summer of this year. The price of tickets has increased significantly since before the introduction of Covid. There has to be more competition among airlines to drive down fares and up frequency. The major Gulf carriers have recovered to their pre-Covid-19 levels, but the Asia Pacific carriers are moving a little more slowly, according to Wego CEO and co-founder Ross Veitch.
Veitch estimates that by this summer, another 20–30 people per capacity will have been added. On Monday, the CEO of flydubai, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said that airfare will remain at current levels for the next few months.
Even though there has been a significant increase in fuel prices, airfares have remained remarkably stable. Because of a supply and demand imbalance, airfares are quite high right now. “I think it’ll stay there (airfare) until the summer,” Ghaith said.
Emirates announced more Eid Al Fitr flights, and flydubai and Etihad Airways added new routes to accommodate rising demand.
The founder of Wego also mentioned that not all airlines have resumed normal operations, thus some of the supply is still being restored. Wego searches have increased to a level similar to those seen before the outbreak.
He noted that the ratio of tourists to business travellers is roughly the same as it was before the outbreak. Visiting loved ones was the initial impetus, but this year has seen an increase in vacation trips.
Favoured are countries that easily issue visas.
According to Mathew Zachariah, Al Rais Travel’s marketing manager, individuals are much more likely to travel in the post-pandemic period, and they prefer destinations where they can acquire access to the country more easily, such as with on-arrival and online visas.
“People tend to avoid going to areas where the visa process is time-consuming and waiting for the visas is a significant part of the trip. “Aside from that, people like and prefer to go four times a year, up from two times in the pre-pandemic era,” he said.
Zachariah elaborated by saying that short trips, especially on weekends, are what people like, and that popular destinations include Georgia and Eastern Europe.
According to Zachariah, fewer and fewer UAE citizens take vacations around the holidays.“Ramadan and the summertime are also very busy seasons now.” Growth in Incentive Travel
The first three months of the year were fantastic, according to Farzana Sameer, general manager of Dadabhai Travel. Many large corporations provide incentive trips to their employees as a means of showing appreciation for their hard work.
The summer should be pleasant, we hope. This summer will be anything but boring. There is a widespread want to see the world. She said, “They had held back before, but not any longer.
