Trading still bright despite Gulf’s clouds

When the end of the new year peak selling season was impacted by the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran, the trade would have been hoping a different picture would emerge before the start of September’s ‘second peaks’.

Yet after weeks of outright hostilities turned into months of shadow boxing, we prepare to enter the final third of the year with uncertainty and doubt still shrouding travel to and via the Gulf region.

The conflict has served to further entrench a trend towards later booking, particularly in the family summer segment where household budgets remain under particular pressure. And operators have been forced to manage capacity and pricing wisely to navigate a market that is also casting many variables into future planning and projections.

Despite these challenges, trading reports through the year so far have been fairly positive in the circumstances, with agents tapping into underlying demand and switch-selling where necessary.

With caution remaining about popular destinations in the Gulf, others to the west have seen some benefit, including destinations in the Caribbean, which is the focus of this week’s themed edition of Travel Weekly, supported by British Airways.

The Caribbean continues to be a favourite for UK visitors, and no doubt many customers will have been reminded of its charms if they switched plans due to the conflict. 

We are all longing for a return to normality so that all these fantastic destinations can shine again concurrently. But in the meantime, there is certainly no shortage of options and you can read more across Travel Weekly’s news and features sections.

Comment originally from Travel Weekly, August 28 edition