Major Travel plans ‘confidence-building’ fam trip to UAE

Trade-only operator Major Travel is planning to take agents on a confidence-building fam trip to the United Arab Emirates, following the relaxation of travel advice to the region.

 

Rute Magalhaes, head of commercial at Major Travel, said the trip will help agents see first-hand how “the Gulf is open, operational and ready to welcome customers again”.

 

She said the operator is exploring options in partnership with airlines, tourist boards and key hotel partners, “because rebuilding confidence will require the whole supply chain to move together”.

 

The fam trip may well coincide with the rescheduled Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai (September 14-17) giving UK agents the chance to “experience the energy of the region’s travel industry at one of its most important global events”.

 

“Combining destination visits with ATM, supplier meetings and the wider networking programme – not to forget the legendary parties every night – would send a very strong message to the UK trade: the Gulf is back, and agents should feel confident selling it again,” she added.

 

More: FCDO relaxes guidance for travel to Gulf region

 

Major Travel partners with Travelgenix to boost online bookable packages

 

News of the FCDO advice also means Major Travel can revive its plans for an operation in UAE, which had originally been scheduled to launch in April, providing B2B travel services to travel agents and homeworkers based in the UAE and wider Gulf region.

 

Major Travel now plans to launch the venture during ATM in September.

 

“That tells you how seriously we take the region. This has not changed our confidence in the Gulf as a long-term travel, aviation and trade hub,” said Magalhaes.

 

“If anything, it has reinforced how central the region now is to global travel.

 

“If the current diplomatic window continues to hold – and particularly if it develops into a more permanent agreement between the US and Iran within the next 60 days – confidence could recover much faster.

 

“The 60-day target may be optimistic…but even an extended period of stability through the extension of this temporary MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] would be enough for demand to start rebuilding meaningfully.”

 

She said the change in FCDO advice is a “hugely welcome development” for Major Travel and for the wider trade.

 

The Covid pandemic had prompted the operator to build more eastbound capacity into Asia, Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf – meaning that non-westbound travel accounted for about 60% of its business and Emirates had become its second-largest airline partner after British Airways because of the capacity it provides into South East Asia, Africa and the Indian Ocean.

 

She said bookings for clients can now proceed as planned and confidence will return – especially for transit passengers.

“Provided there are no further shocks over the next six months, we would expect the Gulf carriers to be back operating with strong load factors within a year,” she predicted.

 

“Travel to the Gulf destinations themselves may take a little longer to recover than transit traffic via Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways or Gulf Air.

 

“That recovery will require a coordinated effort from hotels, tour operators, DMCs, tourist boards and the wider trade.

 

“Initially, we expect value-led offers to play an important role in making the proposition difficult for customers to ignore.

 

“Over time, if stability holds, the market will move on from the disruption of the past few months.”

She concluded: “For the trade, the key message is that the Gulf is too important to long-haul travel to remain suppressed for long.

 

“[The] FCDO change is not the end of the recovery process, but it is the point at which the trade can start to working towards rebuilding with confidence.”