ShareBy Nawara Fattahova
KUWAIT: The political situation in Europe has affected travelling to some destinations from Kuwait during this past national holiday season, which also witnessed varying price ranges for flights to some popular destinations. “We had many reservations to Russia that were canceled due to the present situation,” a travel agent told Kuwait Times. “Also, few tickets to Poland and Romania were canceled. On the other hand, there is no demand to Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, the price of some airlines’ tickets hiked to triple from the regular range during the national holidays. The ticket to Turkey for instance reached over KD 250. On the other hand, tickets to some destinations, such as the Philippines, dropped to almost their regular prices before the pandemic.
According to different local travel agencies, travelling is getting back to normal, but it is still yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. “If I compare the bookings in February 2022 to February 2019, the rate reached about 70 percent. After lifting most of the health precautions especially allowing unvaccinated Kuwaiti citizens to travel, and the opening of many destinations that were closed to tourists has helped refresh the travel sector,” Hani from Viano travel agency told Kuwait Times.
“The price of tickets hiked by about 300 percent for some popular destinations during these holidays. The most popular destinations are Turkey and Dubai, as those are suitable for short holidays. On the other hand, some destinations such as the United States is only popular in summer, as people travel there to spend at least a month or more,” he added.
KD 250 to Istanbul
Mohammed from To Go Travel agreed that travelling during these holidays is becoming essential, which affected the price of tickets. “The price of a ticket to Istanbul reached over KD 250 last week. Turkey, Dubai, and London are the most popular destinations. Also, Egypt and Jordan were popular during this period. For ski and winter sports, Switzerland and Turkey are the most popular,” he said.
“Some popular destinations such as Sarajevo are not in demand now, especially that Kuwait Airways is not operating direct flight now,” Mohammed said while comparing changes to popular destinations before and after the pandemic. “Also, Thailand, which is very popular for tourists from Kuwait, was closed for a long time due to the pandemic, but they opened a few months back. Malaysia, which is also a favorite destination especially for families, is still closed for tourists,” Mohammed further said.
But while prices for several destinations increased during the national holiday season, prices of some tickets are dropping. “The crazy prices of tickets to destinations where mostly domestic labor are flying such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Philippines are getting to normal levels. For instance, the price of ticket to the Philippines reached over KD 700 during the pandemic. Now, the price ranges between KD 250-280,” stressed Haidar from Al-Madar travel agency.
“In general, I think that traveling is still not back to normal levels as they were before the pandemic. I assume it has improved compared to last year by around 60 percent. The prices of tickets sold during these holidays increased by 15-20 percent for some destinations, while it hiked by over 100 percent for the most popular destinations such as Dubai and London,” he pointed out.
Four billion travelers
Yesterday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) issued a report on travelers. This report expects overall traveler numbers to reach 4 billion in 2024 (counting multi-sector connecting trips as one passenger), exceeding pre-COVID-19 levels (103 percent of the 2019 total).
Expectations for the shape of the near-term recovery have shifted slightly, reflecting the evolution of government-imposed travel restrictions in some markets. The overall picture presented in the latest update to IATA’s long-term forecast, however, is unchanged from what was expected in November, prior to the Omicron variant.
“The trajectory for the recovery in passenger numbers from COVID-19 was not changed by the Omicron variant. People want to travel. And when travel restrictions are lifted, they return to the skies. There is still a long way to go to reach a normal state of affairs, but the forecast for the evolution in passenger numbers gives good reason to be optimistic,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
The February update to the long-term forecast includes the following highlights: In 2021, overall traveler numbers were 47 percent of 2019 levels. This is expected to improve to 83 percent in 2022, 94 percent in 2023, 103 percent in 2024 and 111 percent in 2025. In 2021, international traveler numbers were 27 percent of 2019 levels. This is expected to improve to 69 percent in 2022, 82 percent in 2023, 92 percent in 2024 and 101 percent in 2025.
