KATA Chariman Mr. Mohammed Wanyoike. File Photo The Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) is calling upon the government to act urgently in shielding the travel industry from the economic effects brought on by the COVID- 19 pandemic that has caused global devastation. KATA Chariman Mr. Mohammed Wanyoike stated through a brief update on the ongoing devastating impact of the Coronavirus on the travel industry in Kenya, that the industry is currently witnessing a grounding due to the announcement that international flights have been denied entry into Kenya effective midnight on Wednesday 25th March,2020.
“We are witnessing the shutdown of the travel industry. The economic effects are getting worse by the day and could become more permanent if the government does not act now.” he said.
Chairman,Mr. Mohammed reported that “the industry has evaluated its internal position consultatively and has taken up immediate measures to safeguard the health of the Travel Agents industry by the CEO’s taking a 90% pay cut in March 2020 and all industry employees going on unpaid leave from April,2020 for a period of two months.Travel Agents business is aligned onto Airlines, and hence in the absence of operating Airlines the Travel Agents businesses are 100% vulnerable”
The travel sector has continued to witness a drastic decrease in travel owing to the travel restrictions put in place by the Governments of Kenya, USA, UK, and European Governments, Middle East and Asia including India. As such, mid of March, some airlines cancelled their scheduled operations into Kenya. These airlines include Air India, Etihad Airways, South African Airways and RwandAir. Our National carrier Kenya Airways has suspended flights to and from keybusiness and tourist destinations within their network.
Mr.Mohammed further said, “During the month of February 2020 the Travel Industry in Kenya recorded a decline in passenger number bookings of 50%, followed by a drastic cancellation of flight bookings, conferences and events resulting in a revenue loss to the sector of 85%. Over 95% of forward bookings for the month of April 2020 have also been cancelled since Europe, America and the Middle East issued lock down notices for non-citizens. The Travel industry has recorded Zero bookings this week and the forecast for April to June 2020 is the same.This is an unprecedented occurrence, and travel agents have no cash flows to support their employees in the coming months should the government fail to intervene”
Other notable findings in the travel impact […]
