DAMMAM, 31 July — The travel industry in the Eastern Province has witnessed a steep decline in business this summer.
Trade circles attribute the downtrend to the fallout of Sept. 11 events and what seems to be a financial crunch faced by expatriates many of whom have deferred their annual vacation.
“There is no denying that this year we had fewer bookings for American and European destinations,” said Al-Waheed Travels manager in Alkhobar. It has been customary for affluent Saudi families to travel to the United States or European destinations during the summer vacation. But the Sept. 11 incident and its backlash in America forced many vacationers to postpone their travel plans and opt instead for in-Kingdom holiday resorts or places in the Middle East.
“It is a very interesting scenario. There is not much difference in the number of passengers traveled this year, but there is a very sharp decline in revenue yield,” said Muhammad Al-Qahtani of Saudi Arabian Airlines. It shows that the number of passengers traveled this year is more or less the same as in previous years. But they traveled to destinations closer home, like Dubai, Cairo, Beirut and other GCC countries.
The King Fahd Causeway registered a substantial increase in passenger traffic to neighboring Bahrain. It is nearly 40 minutes drive from Alkhobar to Manama excluding the time spent at immigration and customs which vary from 30 minutes to three hours, depending on traffic as well as the functioning of the computer systems.
Saudia confirmed an increase in domestic travel this year. The volume of increase was not revealed but the airline said that more passengers traveled to destinations like Abha, Asir and Jeddah. Umrah travel also rose, marginally though.
But the brunt was borne by foreign airlines which normally do roaring business during summer vacations. The manager of an Asian airline said that this year his airline carried fewer passengers to destinations like Bombay, Colombo, Manila and Dhaka. “It looks like many workers decided to skip their annual vacation this year,” he said on condition of anonymity.
The airline industry says that a steep decline in the revenue yield, heavy undercutting, fare war and decline in travel together might spell a doom on its business. They say it is necessary that confidence among travelers and airlines is regenerated and for this, the initiative has to come from the national carrier. “If they take a lead in restoring confidence among travel agencies and putting an end to undercutting then there is hope and the market might improve,” said Ali Al-Dosarry, manager of a leading travel agency in Dammam.
Meanwhile, a senior Saudia official said the airline transported 6.7 million passengers in the first half of the year. Assistant General Manager Abdul Aziz Al-Hazemi said the national carrier operated 42,389 flights, transporting 2.497 million passengers on its international flights and 4.279 million on domestic flights.
Saudia, which recorded more than $3 billion in revenue in 1999 and has a 129-strong fleet, is the largest airline in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. The airline purchased 61 new aircraft in a $7.5 billion deal signed in 1996 with Boeing and McDonnell Douglas.
