By Ramesh Mathew
Travel professionals were urged yesterday at a seminar to devise effective strategies to counter the global economic slowdown.
The conference was hosted by Qatar Civil Aviation Authority to discuss the effect of global financial turmoil and its impact on the global travel and tourism industry.
Though it is generally felt that the effect of the financial crisis is not that severe on the Middle East, in particular on the states, experts who warned of a possible impact if things are not handled properly.
Director of Business Development at Kuwait-based National Aviation Services Ibrahim Kamal and UAE-headquartered Travison Group president Bicky Carlra gave tips to travel professionals to effectively counter the downward trend in their businesses.
Highlighting the necessity of more floor co-ordination between various segments of the industry, Kamal said he expected the present lean phase to continue at least until 2012.
Advocating for adopting a more practical approach in the industry, Kamal said it is time the entrepreneurs retained experienced and talented personnel capable of delivering goods to the whole of the industry.
“Such personnel who are retained should be motivated in such a way that they should be able to infuse more money into the industry,” said Kamal.
The travel professional felt it was doubtful if it was the right time for introducing new airlines as the industry is affected badly by falling numbers of travellers worldwide.
The speaker said a fall of about 9% is expected in the world trade and 30mn to 50mn jobs would be lost in the process.
Carlra said the Middle East is generally referred to as a region that “follow” the changes seen and experienced in the other regions.
“Though the GCC is by and large better off than other developing nations owing to its surplus income from rich oil resources, there is possibility that travel could be reduced in the region’s states on account of the ongoing negative effects on the economic front,” he said.
Similarly, there could be a fall in the global remittances to such countries as India, China, Mexico and the Philippines.
“The total fall in remittances this year compared to the previous year could be in the region of around $15bn,” he said, though he added that it is too early to speak on the impact on travel on account of declining remittances.
The speaker said a study carried out in Saudi Arabia forecast a fall of 10% among business travellers.
While suggesting lower operational costs for running businesses, the official said current situation favoured a buyers’ market in the real estate industry and entrepreneurs could consider shifting their offices to cheaper premises as a cost-cutting measure.
“Money thus saved could be utilised for training staff and such a move would help the industry considerably in the long run,” he said.
Carlra said businessmen should treat recession as an opportunity and plans should be formulated to steady the businesses.
The availability of cost effective solutions in different areas, including marketing and advertising help save considerable amount of money and such cash should be utilised for development in different areas of a business, argued Carlra.
The speaker said the growth projected by Qatar Airways in the next few years stood testimony to the fact that impact of slowdown was only minimal on Qatar.
“Along with Qatar, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia too look capable of warding off the threats posed by global financial turmoil,” he said, made possible by their revenue from oil. |
