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.”
