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Travel agents predict bumper 2014

12 Apr 2017 - by Dorine Reinstein
Comments | 0

AVIS has released its

latest GDS Travel Index,

which shows airline and

hotel bookings are up, and

travel agents say the trend will

continue through 2014.

The index shows a year-onyear

growth (Dec 2012-2013)

for the hotel and airline

industries of approximately

7% and 2% respectively.

Meanwhile, car-rental bookings

declined by approximately 2%.

Serendipity’s bookings

through the GDS are soaring,

says Dinesh Naidoo, group

operations director of SWG. He

says this is for all categories,

including hotel, airline and car

rental, which were up last year

and the trend is expected to

continue this year.

Claude Vankeirsbilck, chief

sales and marketing officer of

Tourvest Travel Services, has

seen a similar trend. “We have

seen a much greater shift to

GDS bookings when comparing

2013 with 2012, as more

traditional non-GDS content,

such as LCC content, has

shifted to the GDS.”

Rod Rutter, coo of XL Travel,

predicts that 2014 will see

a surge in travel bookings in

general of between 6% and

8%. He says the positive trend

is reflected in the fact that

airlines are increasing their

capacity on popular routes

as a result of an increase in

demand, such as the recent

introduction by British Airways

of the A380 on the London

route. The noticeable absence

of tactical airline fares is

another indication that travel

demand is up, he says.

The only noticeable leveller

that puts a slight damper on

travel this year is the general

elections in May, as people

are holding off with travel

plans until the elections are

completed, he adds.

Maree Chambers, owner

of Chambers Travel, agrees,

saying people are dragging

their heels with making travel

arrangements as they await

the results of the general

elections. Bookings for June

are up though, she says.

Claude is more cautious

with predictions. He says the

outlook for rest of the year

is difficult to predict due to

very late booking profiles

and extreme pressure on

cost containment, both in

the corporate sector and

government sector. “Our

predictions for the remainder

of the year are that the market

will be under severe pressure

although the past three

months have certainly been

better in comparison to same

period last year, but that could

be attributed to our growth in

business acquisition/share of

market.” 

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