Will national elections affect travel buyers?

With elections set to take place later this year, the travel industry must take note of potential impacts.

Kirby Gordon, head of sales and distribution at FlySafair, says travel managers must be prepared for an increase in demand on suppliers like airlines.

Gordon notes that campaign spend will stimulate the travel industry but that this probably will affect supply in seats for regular travellers. Although from FlySafair’s point of view, three new aircraft for delivery 2019 will increase capacity and help compensate for the increase in demand. He also recommends people to keep an eye out in advance for this change, as this election period will add a new type of seasonality to air travel for the year. “People are generally aware of booking during busy seasons like the December travel period, and compensate for the increase in leisure travel during that time. They must be aware of the election season in a similar way.”

Frank Palapies, COO, Africa & Middle East for Wings Travel, believes that the corporate travel industry will be largely unaffected by the election, but the outcome of the election could be key for economic recovery. He notes that a favourable outcome could boost foreign investment, stimulate the economy and therefore ease the pressure on local companies. Marco Ciocchetti, CEO of XL Travel Group Head Office, agrees that the result is the major talking point, and does not foresee much disruption of travel in the lead-up to voting day.

source: T&M