Will tourists avoid these destinations? “It all suddenly collapsed”
Less than a week has passed since the American-Israeli attack on Iran, and the losses of the tourism industry in the region are already estimated at tens of millions of dollars. The analyst summed up the situation in an interview with Radio Zet.
Marek Stus is an aviation market analyst for Pasazer.com who has been in Qatar for almost a week. His plane from Doha was diverted after the airspace was closed when Iran fired at countries in the Persian Gulf region in response to the US and Israeli attack. Tens of thousands of travelers, including many from Poland, found themselves in a similar situation.
War in the Middle East. The tourism industry is counting millions of losses
Stus has no doubt that the current events in the Middle East will have very serious consequences for the tourism industry in the region. – Everything is changing very dynamically. We do not know how long the conflict centered around Iran and the attacks on countries in the Persian Gulf will last. Iran is trying not only to attack American military bases located in these countries, but also their critical infrastructure, including: a refinery in Bahrain or Qatar, and above all, airports – he noted in an interview with Radio Zet.
– A few days ago, an airstrike at Hamad airport in Doha was neutralized. Similar incidents were reported in Dubai. There is no doubt that in the short term this is a very difficult operational and financial situation for all carriers, he added. Airlines that rely largely on the transport of tourists between Europe and Asia, such as Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad, are reporting huge losses. It is said to be in the tens of millions of dollars. Only the first carrier is expected to lose PLN 25,000 a day. customers.
A safe Middle East? “It all suddenly collapsed”
– This means that all these unused tickets will have to be settled and refunds or rebooking flights to another airport will have to be made, which also means increased costs. In addition, there are several thousand passengers stuck in Doha. It is not known how long it will take to restore the regular network of connections. It is difficult to estimate the losses at this point, but they certainly amount to tens of millions of dollars, Stus agreed.
He also pointed out that the narrative about safe resorts in the Middle East or comfortable transfers in Dubai will end. – It all suddenly collapsed. The belief in security in the region is now in question, he pointed out. In his opinion, customers will avoid transfers in the Middle East.
