“On February 28, we were in the middle of the sales campaign for Holy Week and the momentum was very positive, from then on, we had an almost total halt for a week, which mainly affected Asian destinations,” states José Manuel Lastra, first vice president of the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies (CEAV), and one of the four executives consulted by Demócrata to analyze the impact on their businesses of the war in Iran, following the attacks by the United States and Israel.
Despite how dark the future looked at that moment, the situation, in Lastra's eyes, did not worsen: "From then on, it began to improve as companies recovered their activity. Both Emirates and Etihad must be at 70% or 75%, while Qatar Airways is finding it more difficult." Although, by no means, is there absolute normality, he adds, "the citizen's will to travel prevails over uncertainties." In this situation, "our services are revalued in a way, we provide confidence and security."
Disparity of opinions
Despite that moderately positive trend that Lastra points out, Iván Méndez, manager of the Union of Travel Agencies (UNAV), is more regretful in his evaluation: “Those first weeks did damage. Agencies had to face (and continue to face) immediate refunds to clients, as well as extraordinary expenses for assisting travelers blocked in transit or at their destination, including accommodation, maintenance, and itinerary reorganization.”
All of the above, Lastra adds, “affects the profitability of businesses. No matter how much people want to continue traveling to other destinations away from conflicts, they do so by cutting budgets or limiting stays. It must also be taken into account that the most complex destinations, which are usually the longest-haul ones, are the most affected and generally the ones most in demand at travel agencies”.
It also gives greater significance to what happened to the CEO of Central de Vacaciones, Christian Lucas: “We are noticing a very sharp drop in sales from the Middle East close to the conflict, which are also impacting the areas that connect Africa through the hubs of Emirates, Qatar, etc. There are very important destinations for us, which are even with nonexistent sales due to their proximity to the war”.
Regarding the suspensions, he indicates, "as a general rule, we are finding collaboration from airlines and ground services at the destination. The only problem is that airlines exhaust the possibility of flying until the last moment, so, when that moment of flight suspension arrives, it is impossible to find a plan B for customers".
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Tourism maintains stability despite immense uncertainty due to the war in the Middle East
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The perception of David Hernández, founder and CEO of Pangea is the opposite: “We are lucky because we maintain a very diversified business: last year we sold to 96 countries. And that has allowed us to better withstand the downpour. Our clients are from the upper-middle sector, and the lower-middle ones are always the first affected.”
Hernández, although he acknowledges that they started with fear, also highlights that during Covid they learned to manage mass cancellations, with which they are "prepared for uncertainty".
What do they ask of the Government of Spain?
Of more or less magnitude, but it is obvious that the war in Iran has an effect on tourism and, therefore, on the operators who conduct it. For this reason, UNAV and the Business Federation of Territorial Associations of Spanish Travel Agencies (FETAVE) proposed a few weeks ago to the Government of Spain the adoption of a package of actions worth 400 million euros.
Economic, labor, and operational measures, among which UNAV highlights an extraordinary ICO line of 250 million euros, at 0 interest rate and guaranteed by the State, aimed at affected travel agencies; an extraordinary fund of 120 million to compensate for unavoidable cancellations and assistance expenses for stranded travelers, and a specific ERTE for agencies, in addition to extraordinary fiscal measures and a protocol to manage cancellations in international crises.