A boom in domestic travel during the coronavirus pandemic is not enough to prop up tourism because of a lack of “high-spending visitors”, an industry leader has said.
Tom Jenkins, chief executive of the European Tourism Association (Etoa), said Europe’s city centres relied on wealthy foreign visitors who only started to return towards the end of 2021.
It comes with city centres facing the separate challenge of adapting to emptier offices, as working from home becomes a habit.
Airlines have told of having fewer business customers and mainly filling seats in economy class during the pandemic, while high spenders instead put their money into luxury Rolls-Royce cars.
With the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant adding further uncertainty to travel, Mr Jenkins said ever-changing border protocols were holding up the recovery of international tourism.
“Domestic demand does not provide the high-spending visitor that Europe’s city centres require,” he wrote in a foreword to an annual review by Etoa.
“It is welcome, but it is not enough to sustain sectors that depend on visitor demand to complement local consumption.”
Jennifer Tombaugh, the association’s chairwoman, said domestic travel “simply could not offset the loss from international travellers”.
Figures released by London’s Heathrow Airport this week showed domestic travel bucking the trend with a 21.1 per cent increase in passengers from 2020 to 2021. Traffic dropped to and from Asia, North America and mainland Europe.
The airport suffered 600,000 people cancelling their travel plans in December as Omicron took hold. Britain tightened restrictions last month but recently returned to the looser measures of the autumn.
Some airlines have been forced to run empty flights in Europe to keep take-off and landing slots at airports.
“Entry requirements and travel protocols changed too often and too late,” damaging the summer tourism season in Europe, Ms Tombaugh said.
Visit Britain, the UK’s tourism board, predicts that foreign visitors in 2022 will provide only 67 per cent of the spending recorded before the pandemic.
Overseas visitors spent £24.8 billion ($33.7bn) on trips to Britain in 2019, making more than 36 million separate visits.
People living in Britain spent a smaller total of £19.5 billion on overnight stays, although they splashed out much more than this on day trips.
The tourist industry in the UK has faced further difficulties from Brexit, with hotels struggling to recruit staff and coach companies searching for drivers, although this is partly down to the pandemic, said Mr Jenkins.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
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MOST%20POLLUTED%20COUNTRIES%20IN%20THE%20WORLD
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If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
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Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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7.
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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9.
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Saudi Arabia
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10.
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South Korea
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Napoleon
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Ridley%20Scott%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Joaquin%20Phoenix%2C%20Vanessa%20Kirby%2C%20Tahar%20Rahim%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%202%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
