Setting the pace for 2017

The dawn of 2017 will focus on every possible opportunity for growth. Industry professionals share their views with TravTalk on the new strategies to be utilised to ensure a stable growth plan for the year.

Shehara Rizly

“Low oil prices have continued to curtail global economies and in turn demand for travel. In addition, the strong US dollar continues to eat away at our revenues. In spite of all these challenges, we remain optimistic and are focusing on looking at pockets of opportunity around the globe, recreating consumer segments, and shifting our operations where we see strong demand. In 2016, Emirates became the only airline in the world to operate an all Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 fleet. We are set to take another 28 aircraft in 2017, and we will continue to work hard to enhance our products on our existing fleet, as well as on our next generation aircraft. ”
Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, Divisional Senior Vice President – Commercial Operations Centre, Emirates Airline

“Dubai will see moderate growth, while Abu Dhabi is expected to perform more robustly through the year. Rotana is constantly seeking to expand its business in its stronghold markets while targeting additional geographic source markets. Poland has lately emerged as a key feeder market for Rotana, and we are gearing up to host a series of roadshows and Fam trips throughout the country to drive more traffic to our properties. Despite the tough economic environment, Rotana continued its aggressive expansion in 2016, opening 8 properties across major markets. We are bringing that momentum into 2017 – a year that will see a further 14 Rotana hotels opening for business, including three in the UAE.”
Amin Dakkak – Corporate Director of Marketing & Communications, Rotana

“The travel market including the Middle East is poised for enormous growth in the next two years, both online and off. Amadeus Gulf launched in 2016 a suite of leading-edge solutions, such as Amadeus Touchless Solutions, Amadeus Dynamic Travel Documents, Amadeus Agency Insight, which is set to reduce operational costs and increase profits while boosting productivity of travel agencies by allowing more efficient use of time and resources to ensure the best customer service. In 2016, there has been a significant growth of online travel business. 93 per cent of MENA online travel agencies’ bookings are mainly from Amadeus web services and superior fare search tools. Recently, Amadeus Gulf organised the Fly By Digital – a most anticipated digital event in the travel industry.”
Graham Nichols, Managing Director at Amadeus Gulf

“We anticipate the upward projections for 2017. Dubai and the entire UAE will set new levels in tourism both in volume and guest pleasure. We expect higher inflow of guests from new markets. We, from our planning perspective, are the followers of Vision 2020 and plan extensive expansion in next two years. We launched the Biggest and first ever Brand New, Al Wasl Dhow in Marina. Our new product is sunset dhow cruise tour. Our R & D is working on the emerging tourist market. We sense the pulse of the market and plan promotions accordingly.”
Ishrat Ali Khan – Group Managing Director – Al Wasl Yachts

Conakry, Victoria Falls, Oslo, Singapore, Jakarta, Chengdu (China) will join Ethiopian’s ever expanding network in 2017. Moreover, frequency will be increased to Cape Town, Djibouti, Seychelles and capacity will increase to Dubai. We will be increasing our presence in Africa and beyond. 2016 was a successful year for us as Ethiopian continued the double-digit growth; new destinations including New York, Windhoek and Moroni Comoros joined our network. We took delivery of ultramodern aircrafts including Africa’s first Airbus 350; and Ethiopian received Airline of The Year award for the 5th year in a row from AFRAA.
Ali Mohammed – Area Manager – Ethiopian Airlines

“2016 was a very successful year for our airline in terms of the fleet and network growth as we continued to build a momentum thanks to our excellent in-flight service. Today our successful network reaches 295 destinations across 119 countries, the largest destination network for any airline globally. In 2016 alone, we have successfully launched several key flights, which include Dubrovnik, Croatia; Bogota, Columbia; Panama City; Kosice, Slovakia; Atlanta; Cluj, Romania; Hanoi; Mahé, Seychelles; Zanzibar, Tanzania; Havana; and Caracas. As we enter into the New Year, we will stay committed to continuously providing our passengers with the best possible services, which is also evident in our fleet growth.”
Adem Ceylan, Vice President of Marketing & Sales, Middle East & Cyprus, Turkish Airlines

“The year 2017 looks bleak for inbound operators, since Indian economy has gone into demonetisation spin. We, as inbound tour operators, do not expect much traffic to come from India for 2017. We are working with few European agencies to bring in European/American tourists into Dubai. We are educating them that we can offer world class entertainment amusement parks, hotels and the wonders DTCA-Dubai has created, especially for the tourists who are flying to Southeast Asia from Europe and America. They should make Dubai as their transit base. The year 2016 has been slow compared to 2015, but overall it was a downward inflow of tourist traffic from India, especially from mid-year 2016.”
Rajeev Gandotra, Chief Executive, Versatile Tourism

We are a small DMC and look forward to the tourist boom in 2017 leading up to Expo 2020. Dubai is one of the best cities in the world today and very pro-active. One must be positive and the future will surely be good. We are exploring new markets all over although our main market is presently India. We plan to travel and get more business as people from all over the world want to visit Dubai. The opening of the Dubai Canal and new theme parks is a bold step forward toward new Horizons.
Mahesh Mirchandani – Managing Director – Horizon Tours