Business Year Ends on Flat Note: According to the latest monthly survey of travel agents by the marketing research firm GfK, the overall 2013/14 tourism year, which concluded on Oct. 31, ended with 2.1 percent increase in sales. Were it not for last winter’s increase in booking and a slight bump following the end of the World Cup last July, the increase would have been even less. And the outlook for 2014/15 is mixed. GfK said that:
For the 2014-15 year, according to the GfK survey:
- Sales revenues for the forthcoming winter were 6.2 percent lower than the same time last year, and the cumulative growth rate dropped back to 2.6 percent. In particular,
- Demand for Christmas and New Year holidays was weak, with a 6.8 percent drop on the same period last year.
- Demand for cruise travel during the winter, however, is strong, with a 33 percent increase in booked revenue up to Oct. 24, according to separate figures from GfK.
- Also, according to the latest monthly fvw sales climate index from consultants Dr Fried + Partner, the index dropped by one percentage point to 95.9 points, and only 30 percent of respondents described business as good at the start of November. More agents are optimistic, though, about the coming months, with 23 percent expecting better business rather than 19 percent at the same time last month.
