Oman Wires It's all about Oman
According to travel agents, costs have elevated by up to 35 per cent and several travel packages are currently sold out.
Suraj Shroff, vacation manager at Zahara Holidays, stated, “There has been an increase of over 35 per cent in ticket prices. Also, the demand of the holiday packages has increased and most of the packages are sold out. People just need to travel anywhere and the demand has been so high.”
He added that yet another element for the higher ticket costs is the grounding of Boeing Max eight planes.
“Because of the grounding of Boeing Max 8 planes, there has been rescheduling and this too has increased the demand. However, this is boosting domestic holidays as many local hotels are being booked because some prefer to travel locally,” Shroff added.
Citing instance of the higher air fares, a travel agent stated a return ticket to some Indian destinations which expenses about RO130 on regular days, has gone up to RO200. “One of the reasons why it is so high is that because the holidays coincide with the school vacations. At our agency, most of the demands of the air tickets are to Indian destinations,” stated an official at Rital Travel.
Georgia and Azerbaijan stay the preferred location owing to the affordability element. “Ticket fares have gone up by 25 to 35 per cent within a few hours of holiday announcement. There is much demand for Georgia and Azerbaijan because holidays there are affordable and also they are good for short stays,” stated Vijay Ojha, assistant manager, Al Hashar Tourism and Travel. Flavia D’souza, senior outbound vacation consultant at Mezoon International Travel and Tourism, agreed, Georgia is the most preferred at the moment.
“There has been more demand on the destination. As for the prices, they will obviously go up when demand is high,” she stated.
Meanwhile, according to some agencies, on the internet bookings have impacted travel agency companies.
“Online businesses and bookings have affected air ticket businesses. There are many offers and discounts when people book online and this has affected us in a big way,” Aaliya Khan, basic manager of National Sunshine Travel and Tourism, stated.
Information Source: Muscat Daily
