Impending labour strikes and sky high ticket prices appear not to be enough to impede travel demand as families’ book getaways for the upcoming Eid and summer holidays. India, Thailand, Türkiye, the UK and the Philippines are proving to be the most popular destinations for those anxious for their vacation.
With Eid Al Adha anticipated to begin during the last week of this month, Bahrainis are eager to take advantage of the break, which could last as long as six days from Arafah on June 27 to July 2 – with the specific dates, of course, yet to be confirmed.
According to global flight marketplace Skyscanner, June 24 and 25 are emerging as the most popular outbound dates.
“More than half of the travellers from Bahrain – roughly 71 per cent – are planning for trips that are one to two weeks long,” the company added, in an insight report focused on this period.
The report found that India was the most searched destination country from Bahrain for the Eid holiday, followed respectively by Thailand, Türkiye, the UK, the Philippines, Egypt, Germany, Italy, the US and Pakistan.
Bangkok (Thailand) topped the list of the most searched-for cities on the platform, followed by Istanbul (Türkiye), Kochi (India), London (UK), Manila (Philippines), Thiruvananthapuram (India), Trabzon (Türkiye), Paris (France), Cairo (Egypt) and Munich (Germany).
“We are noticing, amongst our clients, that people are clubbing their Eid holidays with longer summer vacation plans to their homeland, though there have been a handful of clients booking group trips for Turkiye’s Istanbul and Oman’s Salalah,” Bahrain International Travel general manager C D Singh told the GDN.
“People are continuing to book trips, despite the rising costs, with Türkiye and Georgia remaining strong options.”
Surprisingly, another industry professional also concurred that the rising price of tickets continue to be the primary concern for travellers, rather than travel disruptions caused by labour strikes.
Europe and the UK are seeing a hive of strike action with workers walking out to protest pay they claim doesn’t keep pace with sky-high inflation, as well as claims of ‘poor working conditions’.
The first four months of the year have already seen more than 50 days of French Air Traffic Control strikes, for example, leading to more than 3,700 cancelled flights, affecting more than 666,000 passengers.
Dates for travellers from Bahrain to be aware of are:
In Italy, June 20 will see baggage handling staff at airports across the country taking part in a 24-hour walkout and on July 15, staff at Italy’s main air traffic control operator ENAV are going on strike for 24 hours.
In Scotland, Unite union has warned of summer ‘travel chaos’ at Edinburgh Airport after workers voted in favour of a strike over a pay dispute. Dates are not confirmed. Meanwhile, Glasgow Airport could see strikes in July, if workers reject a pay rise currently being offered.
And, dates to beware in other parts of the UK are June 24, 25, 28, 29 and 30, July 14 to 16, 21 to 24, and 28 to 31, as well as August 4 to 7, 11 to 14, 18 to 20 and 24 to 27, as security staff at London’s Heathrow International Airport plan to stage 31 days of strike action this summer during the busiest holiday period of the year, stretching across seven consecutive weekends in July and August.
Spanish airline unions are planning strikes between June 19 and July 2, to protest wages not keeping up pace with inflation.
While families and travellers in Bahrain seem to also be unhappy about the underlying inflation, Magnum Travel Services general manager Haifa Oun noted that few of them were worried about the strikes potentially disrupting their travel plans.
“So far, we have seen no cancellations from airlines that affect our customers,” she added. “Some of our clients are concerned about the strikes, but most of the concerns we hear are about the Schengen visa application process and rising ticket prices.”
Ms Oun found that her clients tended to book longer trips if travelling to further destinations in Europe, with some planning to start their holidays as early as June 23.
However, the weekend getaways tended to be mostly to Türkiye and Spain and demand for these remained high, despite the costs rising, according to multiple news outlets.
For the more budget-sensitive, Skyscanner travel expert Ayoub El Mamoun suggested broadening destination searches.
“You can also get some special deals if you type a country into the destination field,” he explained.
“This is especially handy during the planning phase as it shows you what different options are available. For example, if you’ve decided to go to Italy, you might find it cheaper to fly into Milan rather than Rome.”
naman@gdnmedia.bh
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