Displaying items by tag:Recovery

Making a full recovery in international tourism back to pre-covid levels in New Zealand may be restricted by a lack of airline seats at least in the short term, according to Scott Tasker, chief customer officer at Auckland Airport.

International tourism is set to reach 100% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (WTO).

The Omicron outbreak and related restrictions continue to stall any meaningful recovery of hotel performance in New Zealand. Last month’s Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) was 28% of its pre-pandemic level in March 2019, according to Hotel Data NZ (HDNZ).

Occupancy levels varied from a low of 22% in Queenstown to a “high” of 54% in the Nelson/Marlborough region, averaging 33% across the country’s main hotel markets.

Island resorts around the world are expected to lead the recovery in leisure travel, according to research carried out ahead of next month’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2021.

The research indicates that the Indian Ocean islands of the Maldives and the Seychelles are expecting a bumper Easter holiday period.

Qantas has released a three-year strategy to guide recovery and return to growth in the changed market.

The airline says around 100 aircraft will be grounded for up to 12 months, some for longer. There will also be job losses and extended stand downs to manage a long period of reduced flying, especially internationally.

Airlines’ recovery strategies have to align demand and booking activity with capacity, says John Grant, UK based director of Midas Aviation.

Grant says that the industry appears to have ‘reached the bottom’ but adding back capacity is going to be challenging for all airlines.

When travellers look ahead to their next holiday, they may also look back in time, the latest edition of the international Tourism Expert Recovery webinar series has heard.

Early early birds could be one way to revive cash flow within the travel industry, says Dr David Beirman, a member of PATA's Tourism Rapid Response Taskforce.

‘Maintaining and developing cash flow is a key to survival. The market is familiar with early bird offers so maybe extra early bird offers may work at this stage.’ That said, Beirman, senior lecturer – tourism at University of Technology Sydney, feels in the long term travel sectors will have to take a new look at its profit margins post Covid.

Finding new services to offer and products to sell, focusing on cashflow, and being ready to take opportunities as they arise were highlighted as key tactics to survive the current crisis during an international travel and tourism webinar this week.