Member of the city's tourism marketing committee: Japanese tourism bookings for the winter face a crisis due to the absence of flights
Qatar Airways controls 70% of traffic to Luxor from Japan, China and India
By Akram Medhat
Following the suspension of all Qatar Airways flights to Egyptian airports, including Luxor Airport, Japanese tourism to Egypt will face a crisis unless national carrier EgyptAir steps in, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism. It has become necessary to operate a direct route from Japan to Luxor during the winter tourist season, which would find a fertile market given the recovery in Japanese traffic that Qatar Airways had been benefiting from, as well as Chinese and Indian tourism.
In this context, Mohamed Othman, a member of the Luxor tourism marketing committee, said the Japanese, Chinese and Indian tourist markets had made up for the absence of British tourism, which has political dimensions, and had seen a notable recovery, all of which benefited Qatar Airways, which accounted for about 70% of traffic from the three markets during the winter peak season.
Othman stressed in statements to “Travel Yalla News” that there is a golden opportunity EgyptAir must seize by studying the operation of direct flights to Japan from Cairo and Luxor, and by forming a crisis committee from the ministries of tourism and civil aviation following the Qatar Airways ban, as bookings already made from the Japanese market from the second half of next August through the peak season to the end of April 2018 face an uncertain fate because there are no flights connecting them to Egypt.
Othman explained that before the suspension, Qatar Airways operated five weekly flights, sometimes increasing to seven depending on demand. Therefore, an alternative must be found and ways sought to incentivize this route for EgyptAir, rather than subsidize it, to avoid any losses; or serious tourism companies and airlines should be encouraged to operate direct flights from Japanese cities to Egypt during the winter season; or the connection point should be moved to Dubai, making it the hub airport linking East Asian markets with Luxor instead of Doha.
The member of the Luxor tourism marketing committee noted that tour operators will ask about bookings for the coming season and how flights and tour groups will arrive, adding that this important market must not be lost and that preparations must be made to remedy the situation so that no crisis occurs.
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