Vaccinated travellers flying with Qantas could win a year's worth of free flights, according to the head of the airline.
Alan Joyce, Qantas' chief executive, told local Australian media on Monday that the airline plans to offer a range of incentives as a reward to passengers for getting vaccinated against Covid-19.
These rewards will range from flight discounts and frequent flyer points, to upgrades or vouchers for future travel.
Joyce said that Qantas would also offer 10 "mega-prizes" of free flying for a year.
Speaking to local television station Nine Today, Joyce said this would represent at least one bumper prize for each state and territory across the country.
Details are still being finalised, but it's expected that each prize would be valid for a family of up to four people to enjoy unlimited economy class travel for a year on Qantas and budget sibling airline Jetstar.
Winners would reportedly also get one million Accor All loyalty points to use towards booking hotel accommodation, said Executive Traveller. This could effectively give each winning family free holidays for a year.
Eligible travellers must have either already had their Covid-19 vaccine or receive it before the end of 2021.
Australia's national airline grounded the majority of its international flights in March 2020 as the country closed its borders to battle the Covid-19 pandemic.
Domestic travel continues, however, and the airline has been busy adding new domestic destinations and pleasure flights to its network. Qantas says it's planning a December 2021 restart for its international network.
Despite an effective battle against the coronavirus pandemic, Australia's vaccination roll-out has been noticeably sluggish. Only 14 per cent of the population have had one dose of the vaccine, and less than 2 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to local media.
Vaccinated US travellers can get free flights with United Airlines
Qantas is not the only airline offering travellers incentives to get vaccinated. Last week, United Airlines announced its Your Shot to Fly campaign.
In a bid to support President Joe Biden's national effort to encourage more people to get their Covid-19 vaccination, members of United's loyalty programme can upload vaccination records to the airline's digital services before Tuesday, June 22 to be entered to win a round-trip flight for two, in any class of service, to anywhere in the world that the airline flies.
The American airline will also randomly select five vaccinated MileagePlus members on Thursday, July 1 for the grand prize of "travel for a year for themselves and a companion – also in any class of service, anywhere in the world United flies".
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Profile Periscope Media
Founder: Smeetha Ghosh, one co-founder (anonymous)
Launch year: 2020
Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021
Financing stage: $250,000 bootstrap funding, approaching VC firms this year
Investors: Co-founders
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James 5'
Slovakia 0
Man of the Match: Dan James (Wales)
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Neighbourhood Watch
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Timeline
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May 2017
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Despacito's dominance in numbers
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