Airlines agree to merge fuel surcharge into ticket prices
Agent commissions may be replaced with CYP 5 ‘service charge’
Tourism arrivals in 2006 are seen increasing by 5% in addition to the 5% rise recorded this year, while outgoing tourism is also expected to rise by 4-5%, according to Akis Kelepeshis, Chairman of the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA).
The UK is seen remaining the biggest market supplying more than 50% of tourist arrivals to Cyprus. Greece continues to increase its share with the number of arrivals from Greece set to increase sharply when in March thousands of Greek students may visit the island, at a time when similar visits to Greece have been banned by Cyprus authorities because of recent cases of student-related violence.
Germany remains the big question mark in view of the World Cup as there are no indicators yet on whether the Germans will stay home and watch football, or travel abroad to escape the expected congestion.
Prospects from Russia depend on how quickly the government expands its network of consular offices in the major cities of Russia to facilitate the issuing of visas.
As for prospects from US or China, Kelepeshis is more confident of our ability to attract tourists from the US rather than China, but acknowledges that it is a tough market to crack and may be achieved if joint excursions involving Greece, Israel and Egypt are offered.
OUTGOING TOURISTS
Kelepeshis sees a healthy increase in the numbers of outgoing tourists and expects a minimum 4-5% increase next year on top of the 5% recorded in 2005.
“The total number of tour packages sold until the August Helios tragedy was 7% higher, but then it fell to 5%.”
The total number of travelers in 2005 is forecast at 650.000 while the number of total packages sold during 2005 is seen at 500.000, he said.
AIRLINE TRANSPARENCY
Kelepeshis is pleased that all airlines agreed to merge the fuel surcharge and other fees imposed on travelers into the airline ticket prices following intense lobbying by ACTA.
“Effective from December 1, travelers pay the airline fare plus only airport taxes without any markups, or hidden fees,” he said, adding that this makes the whole process more transparent and in the interests of the traveler as well as the travel agents, since they get more commission on higher airline fares.
For his publicly owned Top Kinisis, on track to record CYP 20 mln in sales this year, this is seen as significant, but according to Kelepeshis the concept of airlines paying commissions to travel agents is seen being phased out in the next couple of months.
Airlines in Cyprus currently pay 7% commission to travel agents to sell their tickets, but are seen phasing this out soon and instead forcing the travel agents to impose a ‘service charge’ as is the norm in Europe and other developed countries. This charge could be a minimum of CYP 5 or a certain percentage on the airline fare.
“We don’t mind it, since it will bring more transparency to the market,” said Kelepeshis.
