The Gulf’s travel and tourism industry may have lost up to $60 billion during 2020 due to the ongoing restrictions related to the global coronavirus pandemic.
Consultants Frost & Sullivan said in a new research report that the sector’s financial loss is expected to reach $50-50 billion, with hotels likely to account for up to $15 billion of the losses.
Frost & Sulllivan said the growth in the tourism and travel sector in the GCC region was about 10 percent during the past five years.
Based on this growth, it was expected that the entire spending on traveland tourism in the region would have reached $110 billion in 2020 but coronavirus dramatically changed things.
“As consumers step out of their homes, maybe for the first time since global lockdowns, they will still want the luxury of a hotel stay but would wish to limit their exposure to other guests beyond their families,” Frost & Sullivan said.
The consultants added: “While the industry is in the process of reinventing itself, it is prudent that the decision-makers understand the basics and ensure that it is not only done in the right areas but also with the right intent for the check-in bells to keep ringing and the footfalls to keep increasing. Understanding the consumer experience journey and innovating at every stage feasible, to make the consumer feel secure, will be the key.”
Dubai gradually reopened its tourism sector in July while Abu Dhabi delayed until last month to allow international visitors.
Saudi Arabia closed its air, land and sea borders again on December 20 following the spread of a new variant of Covid-19 and reopened on Sunday while Oman reopened on December 29
The research said the sector has seen growth in domestic tourism led by Saudi Arabia as most countries closed their borders to international visitors for long periods of the year.
It added that 65 percent of all hotels in the region are expected to adopt bio-bubbles – a safe and secure micro-environment, isolated from the outside world to minimise the risk of infection.
By design, it permits only authorised and accounted for people to enter the protected area after testing negative for the virus.
IPL T20 Tournament in UAE pioneered the bio-bubble and executed a tournament featuring 300+ participants across 24 matches in three cities with zero infections, the report noted.
Frost & Sullivan also said it expects the global cloud kitchen market to grow to $1 trillion by 2030, with operators having a strong foothold in the overhead heavy and predominantly urban GCC market.
“More people are staying home for extended periods as organisations adopt remote working to counter the virus effect. This is feeding demand for whatever industrial kitchens serve up and get F&B operators to deliver to homes around the country.
Plus, with residents less likely to visit crowded destinations, including restaurants, ordering-in has become a definitive need of the hour,” it said.
The report added: “In future, we will witness more experiments like ghost kitchens that can meet the growing demand for delivery… third-party delivery will be a trend that will replace the current staple of eating-out.”
https://www.arabianbusiness.com/travel-hospitality/456789-gulf-tourism-losses-due-to-coronavirus-could-reach-60bn