Post-pandemic “revenge travel” is at an end, but that has not led to a dip in demand for flights, a senior Etihad Airways executive has told The National.
It is about a year since governments began to lift the Covid-19 entry restrictions that hit the travel and tourism industries hard as the disease spread around the world.
The removal of those curbs allowed travellers to release their pent-up desire to visit new countries, also known as revenge travel.
That has aided the recovery of the sector, with the World Travel and Tourism Council estimating that global tourism revenue would reach $9.5 trillion this year.
But Edward Fotheringham, vice president of global sales at Etihad, said frustrations built up during the pandemic were now far less important to the public’s travel plans.
The Abu Dhabi airline has this month moved to cater to the high demand for travel by opening new routes to Dusseldorf, Copenhagen and Osaka.
“People have talked about that ‘revenge travel’ after the pandemic, the huge amount of demand – and actually we are seeing that continue,” Fotheringham said from Copenhagen Airport, moments before the inaugural flight between the Danish capital and Abu Dhabi took off.
“I personally think revenge travel has finished and this is about that great demand, because through the pandemic people realised that connections with each other were the important part of travel.”
The National was onboard Etihad’s maiden flight to Copenhagen last week, which marked the airline’s first venture into Scandinavia.
Etihad’s chief financial officer, Raffael Quintas, told passengers and officials at the city’s airport that the flights were “a huge milestone” for the airline.
Fotheringham described the market as “just massive” and said Etihad aimed to “cover the whole of the south of Sweden and Denmark”.
“Etihad is looking at its 2030 journey and we plan to triple our passenger numbers to 30 million, we’re hoping to double our fleet and we’re hoping to double the number of destinations,” he said.
“We are always on the lookout for exciting new destinations. I’ve been in Dusseldorf, where we’ve reintroduced a flight after four years. Then there is Osaka in Japan.
“The network growth is absolutely fantastic and gives customers that great connectivity, either from Abu Dhabi, going around the world, or from Copenhagen.”
The Gulf has welcomed an increasing number of visitors in the past two years owing to global events including Expo 2020 Dubai and the Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
The UAE is also to host the Cop28 climate change summit between November 30 and December 12.
Hotel industry experts have said about a third of all rooms in Dubai have been booked for the first days of Cop28.
Fotheringham said Abu Dhabi tourism sector was also benefiting from an increase in visitors.
“Abu Dhabi is becoming a world city today, with all of its cultural attractions, like Louvre and all the ones about to open up, as well as the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and also that entertainment side, be it the F1, be it Ferrari World,” he said.
“How Abu Dhabi Inc is investing around the world, that is driving more people into Abu Dhabi.”
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Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The years Ramadan fell in May
Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Cofe
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 80-100
Amount raised: $13m
Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Series result
1st ODI Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets
2nd ODI Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets
3rd ODI Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets
4th ODI Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets
5th ODI Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets
Sanju
Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani
Rating: 3.5 stars
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Avengers: Endgame
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin
4/5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets