Corporate-focused travel agents witness bookings slump and sneaky credit pay-off bids
Major travel agencies across the GCC are being affected by a slump in corporate bookings as companies look to tighten their belts during the global economic downturn.
“From the tail-end of last year, our figures showed a 15-20% drop in corporate bookings,” said Dubai-based Orient Travel CEO Asim Arshad.
“The drop at the moment is more from fear and uncertainty in the market rather than an actual slump.”
Arshad also revealed that some corporates who were afforded large amounts of credit from travel companies were now looking to negotiate paying off a “reduced” amount. Fellow Dubai agent, Fabian Ferdnandes, the general manager of Alpha Holidays, concurred with Arshad.
“We have had some delays with payments from companies,” he conceded. “But it’s too early to tell how the market will properly react.”
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He said agencies with corporate accounts in the construction and real estate industries were amongst those most impacted by the credit crisis, whereas those arranging travel for more resilient industries were relatively unaffected.
One such agency is Al Rostamani Travel and Holidays, which has a diversified corporate account base.
“A lot of our corporate business is from the legal sector, which is still travelling,” said business development manager Shafeekh Azeez.
Kanoo Travel general divisional manager Julian Knott said his company had experienced a drop of “around 5-6%” in corporate sales, but stressed that most shortfalls could be made up by new gains: “Perhaps travel for management meetings will become restricted,” he mused. “But the current environment means sales and business development travel is going to be more important than ever.”
Alpha’s Fernandes said now was “a good time to look for companies seeking new partnerships”, adding: “Prices might drop, but that will encourage corporate groups to travel more.”
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