While the domestic market has been the lifeblood of the UAE’s tourism industry over the past 12 months, leading figures from the sector have admitted they are longing for the return of international travellers, whenever the coronavirus restrictions allow them to venture safely back to the country.
Former Jumeirah Group CEO Gerald Lawless, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority CEO Raki Phillips and Stijn Bastiaens, VP and commercial director, MEA for Hilton, were all part of a panel discussion at the Arabian Business Forum where they discussed the importance of travel and tourism to the full economic recovery of the UAE.
And while staycations have somewhat saved the sector, as the pandemic raged across the globe forcing countries to close their borders and halt international flights, Lawless, who is also an ambassador for the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), admitted: “International travel is vital for the whole industry and for our industry here in the United Arab Emirates. We cannot sustain the whole industry just on staycations.”
The UAE’s World’s Coolest Winter campaign reportedly attracted 950,000 domestic tourists, which generated about $272 million.
Phillips previously revealed that tourism dropped 30 percent during the pandemic, but RAK remained one of the best-performing emirates in the country, boosted by various campaigns including the shortcation promotion last summer and the current funderful promotion.
He said the split between international visitors and the domestic market was 70-30 pre-Covid, but that changed dramatically to 90-10 throughout the Covid crisis.
He said: “The international market is key for us. It’s so important that we can open.”
RAK’s top contributing source markets include Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Germany and the United Kingdom, although the latter two remain out-of-bounds as a result of strict travel bans from the respective countries.
“Our bread and butter is going to be the international market, but in the meantime we have to do the best with what’s available,” said Phillips.
Bastiaens joked that May 17, the date when the UK and Saudi Arabia plan to re-open their borders and resume international flights, “is going to be of equal importance” to the birth of his children. And he remained confident that the industry will be “back-in-business” by “the second half of the year”.
RAK’s top contributing source markets include Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Germany and the United Kingdom
That confidence is fuelled by the progress of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, which is being rolled out across the globe. The UAE is leading the way among the top countries in the world, with more than 5.56 vaccinations administered.
Phillips explained that every employee working in hospitality, in hotels and tourist in RAK, is getting vaccinated, while every employee gets a PCR test every ten days and every international guest visiting the emirate is offered a complementary PCR test before leaving.
He said: “The only way we can move forward is with a vaccine. In the UAE I think the resilience that we’ve done and the success we’ve had is because everyone is on a drive to get vaccinated.”
Emirates and Etihad Airways have partnered with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to become among the first airlines in the world to trial a new app to help passengers manage their travel amid ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.
IATA Travel Pass enables passengers to create a ‘digital passport’ to verify their pre-travel test or vaccination meets the requirements of the destination.
And Lawless believed such a concept would become the norm moving forward. He said: “We put chips in passports, why can’t they put another chip into the passport?”
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