The travel industry has faced new restrictions, canceled trips, destination closures and job losses over the past year. What can we expect in 2022?

CBS News senior travel adviser Peter Greenberg shares his expectations and how travelers should prepare.

Flight prices will drop in January

After January 4, air traffic historically drops, so prices will likely be lower than they are now, Greenberg said.  

“If I wanted to book a round-trip ticket this morning from New York to Los Angeles, assuming I could even get on a plane, that round-trip fare is $700. January 5: $132,” he said Tuesday on “CBS Mornings.” “I also priced out a Dallas to New York trip on January 5. It was $32. The cab ride to the airport is more expensive.”

Airlines won’t mandate vaccines on their own

While some airline CEOs support a vaccine mandate for travelers, none of them want to be the only airline to implement it, Greenberg said.

“They’re waiting for the Biden administration to make that rule,” he said. “[The administration’s] not about to make that rule right now because their other vaccination mandate is being challenged in the courts, all the way up to the Supreme Court. So, until that’s resolved, it’s dead on arrival.”

Airline miles will lose value

During the pandemic, companies realized their frequent flyer programs were worth more than the airlines themselves, Greenberg said.

“They actually mortgaged their programs from between $6 and $10 billion each airline. That’s a lot of debt,” he said. 

To deal with that debt, the airlines will start to devalue frequent flyer miles and make it harder to earn and redeem them, he said. So, if you have a lot of miles, Greenberg recommends using them as soon as possible.

“Start today. Look out about 330 days, as far out as that, and redeem miles as much as you can because starting in January, that devaluation parade is going to start and it’s not going to be pretty,” he said.

Hotel rates could be negotiable 

Expect to pay more for hotels in the next year. But if you’re willing to make a phone call, rather than book online, you may be able to negotiate the rate, Greenberg said. 

“It’s not the posted rate that counts, it’s all the ancillary rates about whether you’re going to have to pay for the water, or the Wi-Fi, or the parking,” he said, adding, “as more hotels open with the same continuing staff shortages, it’s going to be a much more competitive marketplace. They’ll be much more willing to negotiate because any revenue is better than no revenue.”

Restaurants will raise prices

“Expect to pay more for your menu,” Greenberg said. “Every menu item price is going up, and a lot of things that never used to be on the menu as a charged item — they’re going to be on that.”

This is because many restaurants have been facing staffing issues that are expected to continue. They’ll have to incentivize workers with higher wages, perks and benefits, Greenberg said.

“That’s going to all translate into higher menu prices, not just on the entrees, but what used to come on your dish is now going to be charged as a side order. Even the bread basket is going to be a paid item.”

Source: CBS News

Asia will reopen to travel as more is learned about the Omicron variant, with the recent tightening of borders only a “temporary speed bump” on the road to recovery, according to a top airline industry representative.

In an exclusive interview, Philip Goh, regional head of the International Air Transport Association, told Al Jazeera he was optimistic about the resumption of travel in Asia in 2022 despite the region’s doubling down on travel restrictions in response to the variant.

“People miss travel and they want to travel. You cannot substitute a hug, a handshake with a virtual zoom call,” Goh said. “Nor can videos capture and invigorate the senses stimulated by the sights, sounds and scents of the places we travel to.”

Goh, IATA vice president for Asia-Pacific, said governments in the region that had banked on isolation to control COVID-19 more than any other part of the world would ultimately reopen because “their citizens want to travel and are asking for it”.

“They also understand the need for economies dependent on global commerce and trade to re-establish trade lanes and to allow connectivity to again flourish,” Goh said.

“This is a temporary set-back,” added Goh, who attributed Asia’s strict border policies to the “risk adverse nature of the region and memories of the SARS pandemic in 2003”.

“We are optimistic that plans to restart international travel will resume when more is learnt about Omicron.”

Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have reintroduced tough travel curbs in response to Omicron, while mainland China, Hong Kong and New Zealand have doubled down on existing ultra-strict border controls.

The region’s deepening isolation comes as countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada ease testing and isolation rules amid growing acknowledgement that efforts to tightly control the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron strain have become too disruptive to everyday life.

Although Omicron is believed to be two to three times more transmissible than the Delta variant, the coronavirus strain has been associated with milder illness.

In a study published in The Lancet on Wednesday, South African researchers found that just 4.9 percent of cases during the most recent wave in the province of Gauteng were hospitalised, compared with 18.9 percent during the second wave. The study, which has not been peer-reviewed, also found that patients were 73 percent less likely to have severe disease than those admitted during the country’s third wave, which was dominated by the Delta variant.

On Thursday, the South African government announced that its Omicron wave had peaked with no significant uptick in deaths. In the UK, where the daily number of COVID-19 cases is still breaking records, the number of patients in ventilation beds is less than one-quarter of their peak in January.

Even before the variant’s arrival, the Asia-Pacific had yet to see any meaningful rebound in travel. Air traffic in the region was down 92.8 percent in October compared with October 2019, according to IATA data. By comparison, travel in North America and Europe was down just 57 percent and 50.6 percent, respectively, in the same period.

‘Desire to travel’

While credited with reducing deaths from COVID-19, the region’s isolation has decimated travel-reliant industries such as tourism, separated families, upended plans for study, work and migration, and disrupted supply chains.

Earlier this month, IATA Director General Willie Walsh criticised governments that introduced travel bans in response to Omicron for “putting at risk the global connectivity it has taken so long to rebuild”.

In November, the IATA released a blueprint for restarting international travel that called on authorities to adopt “simple, consistent, and predictable” measures. The proposals included removing all hurdles for vaccinated travellers and allowing quarantine-free travel for passengers who are not vaccinated but have a negative antigen test result.

Goh said the effective shutdown of the region’s aviation had highlighted the “immense importance of aviation in our lives, which is often taken for granted”.

“People have missed not being able to connect with friends and family. People feel worse-off in terms of life experiences gained through exploring new cultures or obtaining an overseas education,” he said. “The fact that travel bookings surged whenever border reopening is announced reveal the desire to travel.”

Goh said there was a need for more balanced discussion about the costs of fighting COVID-19.

“That’s why we need governments to look at reopening borders, allowing the free flow of air travel without quarantine by treating COVID-19 as an endemic disease and managing it through testing and vaccination,” he said.

Source: AL JAZEERA

United Arab Emirates (UAE) has extended the ban on Kenyan travelling to its territory indefinitely, restricting inbound flights from Nairobi and a host of other African countries.

In a notice, Emirates Airlines announced that it has extended the ban, which was to end on the eve of Christmas, until further notice.

The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) had announced a 48-hour suspension on all flights from Kenya to the Middle East nation on December 20, but on Wednesday, the Dubai-based carrier said that it has, in turn, extended its flights from Kenya suspension to comply with the directive that was to end on December 24.

“Until further notice, flights to and from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda are suspended. Passengers who have been in or transited through these countries in the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter or transit through Dubai,” said the notice from the airline.

The move is the latest restriction on global travel by UAE aimed at limiting the spread of Covid-19 in the wake of the new Omicron variant.

The directive comes as a blow to the national carrier Kenya Airways, which had seen an increase in bookings on this route occasioned by the ongoing Dubai Expo 2020 exhibition.

Kenya Airways suspended passenger flights to Dubai on Tuesday last week in line with the directive.

The national carrier said it would refund passengers who had booked tickets for travel within the suspension period. The travellers will also be allowed to rebook when flights resume.

The suspension came days after Dubai introduced new travel requirements for direct flights from Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

Under the new measures, travellers from Africa were required to provide a PCR test result conducted at the airport six hours before departure for Dubai.

In addition, travellers were to self-quarantine until they received a negative Covid-19 test certificate issued within 48 hours of arrival in Dubai.

Kenya has seen coronavirus resurgence with a rapidly rising caseload since confirmation of the highly infectious Omicron variant last week.

The positivity rate — the ratio of positive tests — rose to 34 percent on Wednesday, which is among the highest levels since Kenya recorded the first coronavirus case on March 12 last year.

The surge in global coronavirus infections has seen many countries tighten restrictions to curb the spread of the Omicron variant.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) labels a country to be a high risk if the positivity rate rises above five percent and advises countries to consider restrictions if it remains above the limit for at least 14 days.

Source: Business Daily

Opening up Africa’s borders to travel will drive investment and an economic rebound, according to the authors of the 2021 Africa Visa Openness Index.

Published yearly since 2016, the Index measures African countries’ openness to travellers from elsewhere on the continent. This year’s edition found that the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic substantially impacted free movement. “In this new era of travel, safety and hygiene protocols have become as important as travel documentation and visa formalities,” said the report, jointly released by the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission on Monday, 13 December.

“The evidence is clear: the countries that make it simpler for Africa’s business people, tourists, students, and workers to visit their territories, are the countries that stand to attract more investment and talent. They are the countries whose economies will recover quickly,” said Khaled Sherif, the African Development Bank’s Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery.

Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, said: “The Covid-19 crisis has made one thing very certain: Africa needs to be more self-sufficient. To get there, we need to boost intra-African trade, and that means fewer visa restrictions.”

The 2021 Visa Openness Index also makes a compelling case for streamlining the visa process for young Africans. “All young people need is the freedom to move around the continent and support as they develop into Africa’s entrepreneurs and business leaders,” it stated.

Key findings

The Index shows that 36 countries have improved or maintained their Visa Openness Index score since 2016. Over 80% of the countries that have made gains in openness are low-income or lower-middle-income countries. The report mentioned Namibia, Morocco, and Tunisia as countries that have made the most progress in visa openness.

Overall, Africa is almost evenly split between countries with a liberal visa policy and those that partially restrict entry from other African states. A quarter of African countries welcome some or all African visitors visa-free; another quarter, roughly, permit some or all African visitors to obtain a visa on arrival. Twenty-four countries offer electronic visas, up from 15 five years ago.

The Africa Visa Openness Index aligns with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Protocol on the Free Movement of People and, in particular, advances the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, with a market of 1.3 billion people.

“By supporting the free movement of people, we make it easier for Africans to do business in Africa. Free movement of people, especially workers, could help plug skills gaps, while enabling countries to fix skills mismatches in their labour markets,” said Jean-Guy Afrika, the Officer-In-Charge of the Regional Integration Coordination Office at the African Development Bank.

Click here (https://bit.ly/3EYX3YZ) to download the 2021 Africa Visa Openness Report and find out more.

Source: Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Fewer trips to India and other “medical tourism” destinations by Africa’s middle class is one anticipated result of a surge of investment into medical facilities, says a just-released report, which also highlights the opportunity for these facilities to mint money treating lifestyle diseases as Africa’s middle class rapidly expands.

The number of Africa’s own regional medical tourism destinations is also seen rising beyond South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia—which currently have the most advanced medical facilities on the continent—according to Research and Market’s Medical tourism 2022: Africa potential.

According to the report, “winds of change are sweeping across African medical tourism.” 11 countries top a list of those looking to take in more patients from other jurisdictions within Africa—as well as outside the continent—in the coming year.

“Once seen as just a source for other medical tourism destinations, some African countries have taken stock and have or will seek to increase inbound medical tourism and reduce outbound medical tourism,” says the report.

Newer hubs are coming up in Africa for medical tourism

Algeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania are newly-listed markets with the potential to help the continent save millions of dollars spent every year in the world’s key medical tourism markets, like India and the UK.

“Outbound medical tourism costs African countries millions of dollars in exchange revenue so they seek to fight back,” according to the report.

The Research and Markets report shows that Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Congo, and Eswatini are among 12 local sources that could significantly boost intra-Africa tourism and trade revenues. Ethiopia, Lesotho Libya, Mozambique Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are also key medical tourism sources that do not fall under either potential or existing destinations.

“Medical tourism in 2022 and beyond will not be a restart of how it was left in 2019 and earlier as there is no guarantee that previous trends will return,” says the report.

The report analyzes how different countries are improving healthcare as well as how medical tourism and insurance plans offered by both private and government institutions are changing and says that the pandemic has changed rules of engagement ‘forever’.

Since the outbreak of covid-19, African countries have been aggressively putting up more modern and advanced medical facilities as top medical researchers return to the continent to bolster the local capacity of medical research.

Last month, Kenya launched its Integrated Molecular Imaging Center and Hospitality Center, a cancer treatment center equipped with a 100-person hostel facility. Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta said it will save Kenyans the over $89 million they spend on cancer treatment outside the country each year.

Ghana made history by building a 100-bed capacity infectious Disease Center (GIDC)—now a referral for patients in need of intensive critical care—during the pandemic, by leveraging private sector and government funding. Last year, the west African country also announced plans to build a 1100-bed health institution dubbed Eco Medical Village to position itself as the next medical tourism destination for Africans.

Investment into medical facilities in Africa has also seen regional investment, with Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed flying to Uganda in October to witness the inauguration of the AFRI Egypt Medical Centre, an Egyptian investment in high tech health facilities in Jinja.

In August, Rwanda and Senegal were picked by covid-19 vaccine maker BioNTech for local production of malaria and tuberculosis vaccines. Nigeria also launched Africa’s first private lab for human whole-genome sequencing, following a $15 million fundraise by start-up, 54Gene last year.

Meanwhile, medical professionals who might previously have flown abroad to look for greener pastures are opting to stay home. Some, like medical doctor and entrepreneur, Maxwell Okoth, founder of the 100-bed Ruai Family Hospital in Kenya, have begun investing in private medical facilities, instead.

These trends, together with plans by the Africa Union and Africa Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) to build local capacity to manufacture 60% of covid-19 vaccines locally by 2040, looks set to shift the face of Africa’s medical tourism.

Medical Tourism Index 2020/2021 by Medical Tourism Association tracks the world’s top 46 medical tourism destinations. It ranks South Africa (22), Egypt (26), Morocco (31) and Tunisia (38) as the top destinations in Africa.

Source: Quartz Africa

Nairobi –September 23, 2021: The International Air Transport Association (IATA)’s Regional Vice President for Africa and Middle East, Mr. Kamil Al-Awadhi paid a courtesy visit to the Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) to discuss a closer collaboration between IATA and the travel agents in Kenya as an effort to fast track the recovery of Kenya’s aviation and tourism sectors. Al-Awadhi’s visit comes at a time when the Kenya market was migrating to the New Generation of IATA settlement system (NGISS), a system that seeks to modernize the current billing and settlement plan that travel agents are using to settle payments for air tickets to IATA.

Al-Awadhi was received by KATA CEO Ms. Agnes Mucuha and other board representatives. Ms. Mucuha called on IATA to support KATA members with familiarizing with the New Generation of IATA settlement system (NGISS), during this transition period.

Ms. Mucuha also called on IATA to support KATA in conducting professional training for Agents to strengthen their knowledge and skills and accelerate the digitalisation of their businesses through the establishment of E-commerce platforms that will provide Agents with a wider reach to customers.  She called upon IATA to collaborate with KATA in the advocacy on the open skies implementation within the African continent in order to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area opportunities that will pivot the rapid growth of Africa’s aviation industry.

KATA Finance Director Dr. Joseph Kithitu said that several business interruptions brought about by Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 affected travel agents’ cashflows as they experienced massive cancellations and delayed airline refunds. He called on IATA to conduct a re-evaluation of the agents’ financial review on the basis of the temporary Local Finance Criteria (LFC) that is currently in operation for the Kenyan market.

“KATA travel agents contribute over 75% of the total passenger number bookings to Kenya Airways and other international airlines operating in Kenya. The closer the collaboration between IATA and KATA, the faster we shall rebuild the recovery of travel” he said.

Dr. Kithitu also impressed upon IATA to implement the Travel Agents Service Fee solution that will enable the travel agents to collect their service fees through IATA’s billing and settlement program efficiently. He noted that this will improve on the operational efficiencies of the Agent’s businesses.

Al-Awadhi, who was accompanied by Dr. Alex Stancu, Head of Region, South and East Africa and Dr. Getnet Taye, Regional Manager, Cargo and Ground Ops – AME thanked KATA for hosting the IATA delegation. He emphasized on the importance of close ties between KATA and IATA as an impetus to boost Kenya’s aviation and tourism industry.

Al-Awadhi said that the airline passenger traffic to, from and within Kenya fell by 52% in June 2021 vs June 2019. The picture was similar for the first half of 2021, with passenger volumes having declined by 54.2% as compared to the first half of 2019.

He called for a joint focus between airlines and travel agents to aid the recovery of the aviation industry. “If we work together, the next two years should see stronger recovery – even as the country ramps up vaccination and more countries reopen their borders,” he said.

Al-Awadhi expressed his profound passion to helping Africa’s Air transport and Aviation industry grow. He called on KATA to join IATA in strongly advocating for intra-Africa connectivity dubbed Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). He said that SAATM is intended to unlock travel within the continent and if fully implemented in the post-pandemic it will provide an even more important economic boost.

“Full implementation of SAATM across the continent would generate significant economic benefits for Kenya by creating about 39,000 new jobs and adding USD201 million to the country’s GDP,” he reiterated.

Al-Awadhi also spoke about the need for Kenya to realise that it is sitting on a gold mine full of opportunities! He urged Kenya to focus on a target of achieving 6.2 billion in tourism receipts compared to the current performance of 3.2 billion. He said, “Africa’s aviation performance has been challenging, and IATA is hoping to bring the transport ministers together in a forum to commit to the growth of the industry through strategic actions and interventions aimed at liberalizing the aviation industry”.

Al-Awadhi congratulated Kenya on going live on the New Generation of IATA settlement system (NGISS)! He said “Today, Thursday 23^rd Spetemebr, 2021 is a momentous day for Kenya with the Go live of the NewGen system! Kenya was amongst the last few countries in the IATA network to go live and this was limiting Kenya’s potential to grow and capitalize on the gains of the new technology solutions.”

The Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) and Amadeus East Africa announced Kenya’s Travel Recovery and Demand performance for 2021 in a webinar on “Outlook on Recovery” for the travel trade in Kenya. Amadeus search and agency booking data shows a very slight improvement in both outbound and inbound search demand and booking volumes for 2021 YTD vs. the same period in 2020.

Travel demand remains significantly below pre-COVID-19 levels owing to international travel restrictions in key markets in Europe, North America and Asia. However, in June 2021 there has been growth in searches and bookings to EAC countries with Tanzania leading as a leisure destination and also to the UAE. During the same period, there has been a growing demand for inbound travel into Kenya from USA, Germany and UK. Domestic travel searches remain high as people are looking to travel more within the country. However, overall travel demand to and from Kenya stands at -69.9% in June 2021 compared to same time in 2019.

The data presented indicated that COVID-19 related restrictions were a showstopper as 84% of respondents said they won’t travel if there is a chance of quarantine. According to the United Nations’ World Travel Organization (UNWTO), it is important for countries to start lifting travel restrictions to significantly improve traveller confidence.

Safe Travel Ecosystem: Preparing for Recovery

Speaking during the webinar, Jamel Chandoul Senior Vice President, MEA Amadeus noted that recovery will be driven by rebuilding traveller confidence and trust; trust for travellers that travel is safe and trust that governments can control the pandemic.

According to global data presented by Amadeus drawn from the “Rebuild Travel Digital Health Survey 2021” 92% of global travellers still have concerns about travelling – the top 3 travel concerns in 2021 are;

• 48% – Mixing with crowds at airports etc.
• 47% – Trust issues if accommodation is adhering to health and safety guidelines
• 46% – Safety & cleanliness of public transport

The survey findings indicated that CONFIDENCE to travel is high and the current appetite for travel stands at 41% globally. TRAVEL TECH has also been seen as a key confidence booster among travellers and if well deployed could be paramount to help restart global travel. 91% of travelers indicated that they were comfortable using a digital health passport for future travel.

INDUSTRY COLLABORATION is also key to reigniting global travel. 72%-74% of travelers said they were willing to store travel health data electronically, if it enables them pass through airports faster and travel to more destinations while 68% of travellers are willing to share health data if the airlines that they frequently fly with offer to store it.

“A renewed travel industry will require collaboration between governments, travel companies, entrepreneurs, and public authorities,” said Mr Chandoul.

What’s Trending in travel: Search Trends – Inbound & Outbound

Kenya Inbound Trends

A key trend noted in data by Amadeus is that 63% of international travellers searching for Kenya in June planned to travel within the next 3 months. This is an indication that travellers are planning and booking with shorter lead times.

The data presented shows a positive trajectory for travel during the course of 2021, with a gradual increase in searches. For instance, the average daily search activity of international travellers interested in Kenya in June was 10% higher than the year-to-date average. In July it was already 31% above the 2021 average.

Most searches for travel to Kenya in 2021 originated mainly from USA, 43% of total demand, followed by Germany 8%, UK 7% and Canada 4%. The USA also recorded the highest relative share of bookings at 30% followed by Germany at 8% and UAE and UK at 4% each.

Kenya Outbound Demand Evolution

Demand for Kenyans to travel to destinations outside Kenya has been increasing steadily in the past 2 months. The average daily search activity of Kenyans in June was 8% higher than the year-to-date average and in July it was 35% above the 2021 average.  The most searched destination by Kenyans in June 2021 was USA, 30% of total demand, Tanzania 5%, UAE 5%, and UK 4%, and the most booked destinations were UAE, with 15% of total bookings, USA 12%, Tanzania 7% and Ethiopia 6%.

UAE is leading due to fewer COVID-19 travel restrictions in place. In East Africa, Tanzania is the leading destination travelled to by Kenyans especially for leisure activities. This demand is driven by relaxed COVID-19 border restrictions for Kenyans visiting the country.

Evolution of Booking and Departure Lead Time for Kenya

We noted that the booking and departure lead time significantly reduced in 2021YTD compared to 2019. This is largely driven by the uncertainties with the destinations that Kenyans travel to. The constantly changing travel restrictions has affected early bookings and most Kenyans prefer to book close to their departure date.

• 72% of searches in June had a departure date in either June or July
• Booking lead time in 2019 – 26.4 days
• Booking lead time in 2021 – 16.9 days

Kenyan Seat Capacity Recovery: Percentage vs 2019 volumes, July – December

Kenya’s seat capacity among international airlines operating from Kenya has also been recovering gradually when compared to 2019 volumes, albeit slightly behind the global average;

• Seat Capacity recovery to international destinations – 51% (Global recovery is at 63%)
• Seat Capacity recovery to domestic destination – 86% (Global recovery is at 91%)
• Seat Capacity recovery to Middle East – 72%
• Seat Capacity recovery to North Africa – 83%

Notable Travel Trends for 2021

1. There has been a 20% increase on searches for 20+ day stays in multiple destinations searched by Kenyans. The need for longer vacations/stays by Kenyans to various destinations can be attributed to quarantine requirements of about 2 weeks in various destinations, and a general interest/need for longer vacations which can be seen as making up for restricted travel in 2020.
2. There has been an increase in relative share of Business and First-Class bookings from 9% in 2019 to 11% in 2021. This can be attributed to great discounts from airlines and an increased demand for indulgent travel.

The indulgent travel trend can be observed for all of the high-demand destinations for Kenyans:

• UAE – increased from 12.4% in 2019 to 20.9% in 2021YTD
• USA – increased from 11.1% in 2019 to 11.7% in 2021YTD
• UK – increased from 23.0% in 2019 to 27.4% in 2021YTD
• Tanzania – increased from 3.2% in 2019 to 4.0% in 2021YTD

Key insights for Travel Agents

Shorter lead times – The constantly changing landscape brought about by the pandemic has weakened consumer confidence and shortened the average booking to departure lead time. Travel Agents can leverage last-minute promotions to entice customers.

Emerging Destinations – With some markets enforcing travel bans and others opening themselves up to inbound tourism, we are witnessing a new order of top destinations. These change quickly as consumers react fast to travel announcements. By monitoring border openings, Travel Agents can prepare new offers and entice clients whilst demonstrating their knowledge of the evolving situation.

Extended stays in destination – There has been a global trend of longer average stays in destination. Kenyan travelers are no exception, with 2021 seeing a 20% increase in booked trips of 20 days or more. Travel Agents may want to consider increasing the number of longer stay trips in their offering.

Indulgent travel increases – Qualitative studies conducted by Amadeus indicate that travelers desire more indulgent and longer holidays now that travel once again becomes possible. In Kenya the relative share of booked seats in premium classes increased by 2% in 2021. This could mean there is increased potential to upsell clients to premium seats.

Industry Reaction

The webinar attracted attendance from different stakeholders within the travel industry including travel agents, government stakeholders, academic institutions and research institutions.

Speaking during the virtual session, Hon Joseph Boinnet, the Cabinet Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife expressed optimism in the resilience of the Travel and Tourism Industry to recover following some of the recovery measures put in place by government.

“The impact of COVID on the tourism and travel industry has been devastating. The data obtained from the Tourism Research Institute show that the industry made losses of upwards of 1.2 million full time jobs that translated to losses of KSh.192 billion in direct labour earnings, Ksh.492 billion on the entire tourism sector value chain while the industry players are estimated to have lost business value of up to Ksh.500 billion,” said Hon. Boinnet, terming this as catastrophic livelihood losses.

He lauded the government for taking proactive measures to ensure the sustainability of the industry such as ensuring that public and privately managed parks continue operating, promoting Kenya as an all-round destination for visitors and advocating for increased vaccination among the industry players. He said this while expressing his optimism in the industry’s recovery trajectory that is projected to fully recover by 2024.

Mr. Mohammed Wanyoike, KATA Chairman also expressed confidence on the industry making a full recovery sooner rather than later. “The industry is currently performing at about 40% of the 2019 numbers and this is an indication that the worst is behind us,” he said.

Mr. Mathieu Dutrisac, the Managing Director of Amadeus East Africa lauded the partnership that KATA and Amadeus have had for years that has seen the two provide the much-needed support to Kenya’s travel trade through the data insights.

Ms. Agnes Mucuha, KATA CEO urged the industry players to leverage the use of data in studying future trends. She said that use of data, embracing digital technological solutions and collaboration among the industry players will play a central role in ensuring a speedy recovery. “The pandemic has transformed the role of travel agents to travel advisors. Consumers will now be looking to you as a one stop shop for all their travel and informational needs relating to the everchanging travel industry,” she said.

Amadeus’ search and agency booking data is the source for all data quoted in this release. Please see the footnote for further details.

–ENDS—

About Amadeus search and agency booking data

^{As a key travel technology provider, Amadeus analyzes billions of global air travel transactions daily in near real time. Amadeus search and agency booking data is a suite of products that leverage the rich travel data generated across Amadeus to provide relevant and up-to-date travel trends and market information to the trade, destination tourism offices and tourism boards. The data includes in-depth information on Air Travel Demand – Flight Searches in OTAs globally, Travel Agency Bookings- Passengers booked via all GDSs, Seat Capacity- number of flights and seats scheduled and operated by airlines, Air Passenger Traffic- overall passenger volumes regardless of the booking channel.} 

More often than not, the Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) receives complaints from travelers who are victims of holiday scams after having purchased fake air tickets or fake holiday packages from unscrupulous travel agents.

The reality is that while it was widely predicted that the internet was going to ease travel by providing tons of information on available flights, fares, destination, safari packages, hotel bookings and literally everything a consumer needs in planning their travel, when digital tools were placed at every traveler’s disposal, chaos ensued. It gave rise to sophisticated internet scammers that have swindled innocent consumers their hard-earned money and dream travel experiences.

Very often, the association will be hand tied in dealing with such complaints making it hard to assist the innocent complainants. We urge members of the public to ensure that they transact with KATA certified agents who have been vetted and certified by the association and regulators. They are bound by an ethical code of conduct that binds their dealings with clients on integrity and professionalism.

Other than assuring you of safety of your money, KATA certified travel agents bring tons of expertise in managing travel not only in Kenya but to global destinations, taking away the chaos and ensuring they deliver to you the dream vacation and hassle-free trip.

Individual Travel Planning Vs Using a Travel Agent

Let say you want to book a hotel in Dubai and want to do it on your own? It’s simple. You just type “Hotels in Dubai” on Google search, then wade through the 520 million search results – most of which look the same, whether they are good or bad, legit or bogus. Spend just 10 seconds each vetting sites, and you’ll be done in four years – and still won’t have booked anything.

Let’s take a much simpler planning, like straightforward searches for airfares for example for Nairobi to Toronto. You will also be bombarded with numerous options starting with basic economy fares that come with tons of restrictions and fees, so the price you see isn’t the one you end up paying, along with connections way too short or way too long. Compounded with the Covid19 travel restrictions and protocols it becomes extremely difficult for a traveler to make a choice. KATA certified agents have extensive experience and training, and they are best placed to assist a traveler navigate choices confidently by providing the right advisory based on the needs of the traveler.

Amid this jamboree of information, chances are a huge percentage – that could be well close to half – could be phony. There has been an unprecedent rise in fake travel agents that look legit by every measure; impressive website, competitive packages, a physical location together with photos, fake reviews, fake receptionists etc. An initial search on the internet clears all doubt from a potential traveller that the agency/site could be a sophisticated scammer. You can’t believe how easy it is to get scammed online.

Let’s face it; a great holiday experience anywhere in the world will depend on how well you have planned your travel. From transport to accommodation, there are lots of choices and options to consider. And in all honesty, trying to put together such an experience while relying on your own sense of expertise without the help of a professional travel agent can cost you! This is where a KATA certified travel agent comes in to take away all the hustle, help you within your budget and give you a pleasant travel experience.  

When is a certified travel agent handy?

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong: Emergencies do happen and for every average occasional traveller who anticipates that anything can go wrong, chances are something will always go wrong. Due to the ongoing Covid19 pandemic, travel has become uncertain and often unpredictable. Bad weather has become a commonplace these days, you could get sick, get robbed, or be caught in those events that will disrupt your flights, and/or your final destination. Think civil unrest, disease outbreaks, wildfires or airline labor strikes.

Anything that causes cancelled flights means hassles, but the people who get through this process the most smoothly and the ones who get rebooked first are usually the ones who used a travel agent. The rest will get bumped from flight to flight – involuntarily – at a rate probably three times higher than what you would have paid.

KATA certified agents will always be a call away.

They are constantly monitoring their clients’ flights and they usually know about your problem before you do – and often have a solution before you even call them. They have direct access to airlines, to GDS (global distribution system) and can get ticketing changes made in minutes.

So, as much as you’d want to hope on a cheap flight that you found through your internet searches, you probably would not know what to do when caught in these situations without the help of a KATA certified travel agent.

Unrivalled expertise: You can never know everything about travel, even if you are a frequent traveller. You need to deal with someone who is deeply involved in the industry, and who better than KATA certified travel agents? The problem with travellers who get scammed, they often rely on information they get from phony sites that will often be misleading. The result is you get scammed or get a raw deal. Some travelers will want to play safe and only stick to known brands of hotels or airlines or destinations that they know. Chances are, the best hotels, airlines and destinations are ones you have likely never heard of or used. This is where you can’t beat KATA certified travel agents’ knowledge and ability to give you a bespoke travel and holiday experience. The agencies usually leverage several experts such as a safari expert, a cruise expert, a corporate travel expert, a honeymoon expert, and so on, and they all work together.

First lane access: Whether you are trying to book space at a coveted 8-villa safari lodge in Laikipia, Kenya or getting a room in a top Dubai hotel during the Expo Dubai 2020, most hoteliers keep emergency inventory and guess who gets it? The travel agents they have known for years who book a lot of guests and send them a lot of business. This is the order of things in the travel industry. Do you need access to that hard-to-get dinner reservation? Free upgrade to first class? Or a free upgrade to the presidential suite? The KATA certified travel agent is your go-to person as they have built these connections over years or decades.

Travel with confidence and book your next trip through a KATA certified travel agent by visiting this link:- https://katakenya.org/travel-agents

Last week, the Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) held a virtual forum to sensitize Kenya’s travel agents on IATA’s New Generation Settlement Systems (NewGen ISS) scheduled to be implemented in the Kenyan Market in September 2021. This new implementation date comes after IATA had postponed its initial implementation date of October 16th 2019.

According to IATA, the NewGen ISS represents the most extensive and ambitious modernization of the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) that travel agents have been using to facilitate the global distribution and settlement of funds between travel agents and airlines for the past five decades.

The webinar which was opened by Madam Shazmin Manji, Vice-Chairperson Kenya Association of Travel Agents was geared towards preparing and educating the Kenyan travel trade players on the NewGen ISS accreditation models, IATA’s approach towards an enhanced risk management framework for the industry with the introduction of the Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC), and a new form of payment dubbed the IATA EasyPay based on the pay-as-you-go model.

The NewGen ISS comes with three levels of travel agent accreditation, allowing travel agents to choose the model most applicable to their business while giving them an opportunity to switch between models as their business evolves.

“NewGen ISS’ Risk Management Framework will offer a more secure environment for all participants through; fitting risk management to agents’ choice of accreditation and participation terms, introduction of a Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC), to enable safer selling and mitigate losses resulting from travel agency defaults,” said Manal Al-Taher, IATA’s Regional Manager for Transformation and Products-AME.

The system packs an alternative payments solution for travel agents, the IATA EasyPay, which will be a voluntary pay-as-you-go e-wallet solution for issuance of airline tickets in the BSP. The IATA EasyPay solution will allow travel agents to lower their financial security amounts held with IATA, and to issue transactions which are not included in their BSP remittance capacity.

The NewGen ISS will also feature the Global Default Insurance that will offer optional financial security alternative for travel agents serving as an alternative to bank guarantees.

“This initiative will bring positive changes to the current Billing Settlement Plan (BSP) that continues to serve the industry’s financial settlement requirements. It will bring greater options and flexibility to travel agents and provide greater financial security to airlines,” said Al-Taher.

RHC Calculation Model

The Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC) introduces a monetary threshold for agent’s BSP Cash sales. Agents will be notified by email when they reach 50%, 75% and 100% of the determined RHC, and will be able to monitor their RHC usage directly through the IATA Customer Portal.

The RHC for travel agents will be calculated based on the average of the three highest reporting periods of the previous 12 months plus 100%. However, in the current Covid-19 situation, IATA clarified that the calculations will be based on the 2019 sales, owing to the fact that 2020/21 sales were severally impacted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

While commenting on the calculation model for the Remittance Holding Capacity based on the 2019 sales, KATA CEO Agnes Mucuha said, “2019 sales levels will favour our travel agents, giving them a higher RHC thus allowing them to sell more.”

While addressing any fears that travel agents expressed over IATA limiting their selling capacity, Dania Al-Abbadi, IATA’s Senior Manager in charge of Agency Risk Management said that RHC will not restrict or limit travel agent sales. She reiterated that the measure is purely a prudential safeguard to protect airline revenues and not restricting sales.

“Travel agents will still have the capacity to continue selling via IATA EasyPay or by increasing their financial security which will in turn increase their RHC threshold,” said Al-Abbadi.

Dr Joseph Kithitu, KATA Finance Director urged members to familiarise themselves with the new rules as soon as possible, to understand the potential impact on their business. He advised members to lay more emphasis on understanding how these two areas will impact them; the Risk Status and Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC).

He encouraged members not to fear the new system, and to embrace the new technology tools that the industry is inventing as they are intended to create more efficiency.

The Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) and Kenya Airways (KQ) on Tuesday 22^nd June held an industry meeting to review strategies that will strengthen the airline’s ties with the Travel Trade actors in Kenya and to discuss various issues affecting the travel industry.

Speaking during the event, KATA Chairman Mohammed Wanyoike noted that travel agents play an integral role to aid the recovery of travel in Kenya, and particularly have become a key partner to the country’s national carrier.

He said that travel agencies have lend a hand to the industry during the most difficult time when travellers were exposed to many complexities in a number of areas that were necessitated by the stringent COVID-19 travel protocols.

While emphasizing on the importance of strengthening KQ-travel agents’ relations, Ms Agnes Mucuha, KATA’s Chief Executive noted that Travel Agents in Kenya account for more than 75% of passenger number bookings to KQ, a position that is critical to keeping KQ flights in the skies.

Her sentiments come at a time when travel agents are reporting surging domestic leisure travel and an uptick in ticket sales for international travel. Key markets in Europe and North America are opening up bringing with it a pent-up demand to travel among consumers.

Industry Challenges

Since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic, travel agents in Kenya have had to grapple with issues ranging from unsettled refunds from airlines, scrapping of commission and incentives by some carriers, price wars, restrictive fare rules, frequent flight re-scheduling and interruptions, unreliable customer service, restrictive ADMs and EMDs and disruptions in local flight schedules among others.

The KATA-KQ industry meeting was meant to address some of these challenges that the travel trade continues to endure while offering a way forward even as travel begins to resume.

Mr Wanyoike hailed KQ for their flexibility and honoring customer refunds following the high cancellation rates during the pandemic. The airline offered dedicated customer support to the industry, quickly addressing the many concerns raised by travel agents.

He assured the national carrier of an unequivocal support from the travel agents even as it steers its path back to profitability.

Strengthening the Airline-Agent Relationship

KQ Chief Commercial and Customer Officer (CCCO), Julius Thairu, assured travel agents of the airline’s continued support even as the two parties continue to enjoy a cordial relationship.

He noted that the Kenya air travel market remains one of the most competitive and lucrative on the African continent with just about every other major international carrier plying the Nairobi route.

Mr Thairu reiterated that for KQ to maintain its competitiveness and reclaim its market share in Africa, it will need a strengthened relationship with the travel trade community and other partners, and to come up with agile ways to defend its market share.

The airline aspires to become the preferred African Carrier and a sustainable business with a break-even position by 2024.

In April this year, Kenya Airways inked a codeshare agreement with national Congo Airways aimed at expanding their reach in the domestic, African and international routes. The national carrier has also expanded its codeshare partnership with Delta Airlines an agreement that takes the duo’s code-share network to a combined 39 cities across Africa, USA and Canada.

The airline, that has been in the process of repurposing some of its Dreamliners to preighters, has also been registered as a UN cargo service provider, a position that will accord them opportunities in UN vaccines and pharma distribution, humanitarian aid transport, UN personnel transportation and UN aircraft charter services.

The carrier is also looking to diversify its service offering according to its market segmentation. Tom Reeves, KQ’s Ag. Sales Director said that the airline is looking into areas of KQ Holidays for leisure travelers, “Koolfliers” targeted for the student market, and medical tourism flights. The airline will also be looking to implement an NDC solution for the market towards the end of this year.

Among the key tenets that Kenya Airways will be focusing on is to repurpose its capacity to support the travel trade who will enable them build brand equity, leverage technology towards existing customers while promoting value, de-risking the business, redefine their price strategy and rebooking policy, leveraging more partnerships and incentivizing future purchases and operationalizing new routes.

Improved Customer Experience

Kenya has a robust and mature travel market. Nairobi’s attractiveness is hinged on its centrality on the continent which allows for easy connectivity to other regional destinations, as well as the hosting of key multinational businesses and non-profit agencies such as the UN Agencies.

Kenya’s travel agents noted KQ’s improved customer service in the recent past. The KQ call center has become agile and queries are attended to within a very short turn-around time, with customer centric solutions being offered during these uncertain times. Travel Agents have been complimenting the customer experience for KQ by providing the most recent and up to date advisory to travelers seeking to visit various destinations on their network under the current Covid19 travel protocols and regulations that have been changing without any notice or warning. This teamwork and coordinated approach in serving the travelers is impacting KQ’s customer experience positively.