Millions are taking to the motorways and the skies for the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, possibly making for a record travel period this year.
Travel group AAA predicts nearly 80 million people will venture at least 80km from home between November 26 and December 2. About 1.7 million more people will travel this year, compared to a similar period in 2023.
Another round of wintry weather could complicate travel leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, according to forecasts across the country, while California and Washington state continue to recover from storm damage and power cuts.
AAA projects a record 71.7 million people will embark on road trips across the country, a 1.3 million increase from last year.
Falling oil prices may help push the national average petrol price below $3 a gallon for the first time since 2021.
The Transport Security Agency says it expects to screen 18.2 million people from Tuesday to next Monday.
“This holiday season is expected to be one of the busiest travel periods on record,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement this month.
A shortage of air-traffic controllers could cause flight delays at some airports, AP reported.
“As we approach Thanksgiving, TSA is ready to accommodate record passenger volumes,” said the agency's administrator David Pekoske. “The 10 busiest travel days in TSA’s history have all occurred in 2024, and we anticipate that trend to continue.”
The country's largest city, New York, will also see a record influx of travellers this Thanksgiving holiday, Bloomberg reported, with congestion at the region’s airports and vehicle crossings creating longer waits and heavy traffic.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is expecting 8.7 million people to use its airports, bridges and tunnels from November 25 to December 2, making it a record for the Thanksgiving travel period, the agency said last week.
Meanwhile, workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport began what was expected to be a 24-hour strike on Monday over their demands for higher wages. Only a handful of flights were cancelled, and there were fewer than 100 delays.
Nearly 2.3 million people are expected to travel by other modes of transport including buses, a 9 per cent increase from 2023 and an 18 per cent jump from 2019, according to the AAA.
Rail operator Amtrak said it carried more than 1 million customers from November 18 to November 26 in 2023 and is expecting more than that this year, a representative said.
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Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
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More on animal trafficking
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
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.”
MATCH INFO
Day 2 at the Gabba
Australia 312-1
Warner 151 not out, Burns 97, Labuschagne 55 not out
Pakistan 240
Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
