Minus 84 percent in tickets after mid-February – business traffic “died” – only exotics are alive
In the medium term, there is no hope for the return of business traffic. Regular line sales statistics for mid-February are unrelenting – 84% year-on-year.
No surprises – Dubai, Maldives, Cancun Zanzibar Dominican Republic and that’s basically the end of it
The results of the 1st half of February further highlighted the trends of recent times. The undisputed leader is Dubai. Confirming the demand for this destination is the news that Emirates is increasing its offering. We are also waiting for news from LOT regarding the connection to Emirates. It is worth remembering the marketing offensive of Emirates which seems to have no end. In March, another group of agents from Poland will embark on a Fam Trip to Ras Al Khaimah.
In addition to Dubai, there are also no surprises in the Maldives, Cancun, Zanzibar and the Dominican Republic. And that’s pretty much where the list could end. Business destinations are practically absent from this list.
Unexpected leaders: Hurra No. 1, and Primapol No. 4 – this shows what is happening in the market
For the first time in history we also have a situation that the market leader in airline ticket sales is a consolidator. This title went to Hurra from Ilawa which for years has specialized in serving the leaders of dynamic packaging ie. Best Reisen, Exim, Top Touristic.
Proud 4th place goes to Pirmapol, which for years has been famous for its strong position in serving Mica agents. Pandemic time will only strengthen this agent built on teamwork and good atmosphere.
Worth noting are the results of agents also handling the Luxury movement, i.e. The just mentioned Primpol and Kompas office from Toruń. The latter checks in just outside the top ten.
Traditionally, agents working with maritime traffic do well, the best of them landing in the 7th position of the ranking.
Still waiting for new players in dynamic bundling, Nekera will pre-empt the giants?
Still no strong entry in the dynamic bundling of tour operator market leaders. This is certainly due to the fact that they rely on their own charters. Offers to Dubai and the Dominican Republic from Katowice have just been announced by TUI, earlier similar news was boasted by Rainbow and Ithaca. Probably all of their sales steam is just going into charters. There is also a lack of information about Ecco’s activities/plans in this interesting market.
Certainly, the “inactivity” of the giants can take advantage of new players. Entry into the segment was announced some time ago by Oasis. Good news is also coming from Nekera, dynamic bundling based on LOT and Corendon is ready for summer, now it’s time to work on winter exotics ( Winter 2021/2).
Traditional business travel agents will continue to tighten their belts
The performance of agents specializing in business travel looks dramatic. It can’t be otherwise since the top destinations sold are exotics, which they don’t specialize in.
This means only one thing, further savings by closing branches, cutting salaries and FTEs. The hope of rebuilding business traffic before autumn seems to have just definitively died.
And this is not the only problem for agents, the hotel segment, which has been very profitable for them so far, is facing a revolution in content distribution. German giant HRS and its Polish partners have just announced withdrawal from cooperation with agents/networks serving corporations. They want to sell to companies themselves.