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| April 10, 2007 | Tuesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1428 |
Air travel patterns to change soon
RAWALPINDI, April 9: The Low Cost Carrier (LCC) phenomenon that is likely to hit Pakistan soon can make a dramatic change in the habits of air travellers and promotion of tourism in the country, informed sources told Dawn.
The growth of low cost carriers in Asia and the Pacific has already had a marked impact on destinations due to the way their products were developed and marketed, and challenged the national full service carriers.
Pakistan is following to some extent an ‘open-sky’ policy that has allowed foreign carriers to operate to and from the country, but deregulation of its domestic market would have a significant impact on conventional tourism.
People who have never previously flown would be able to fly and others who are flying more often. This would allow emergence of new destinations while the established ones would see changes in the spending habits of travellers.
The Asia-Pacific Conference on Low Cost Carriers, which is being organised by the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the Pakistani Ministry of Tourism, will be held in Islamabad from April 25 to 27 to create a better understanding the way low cost carriers operate and how they market themselves and the destinations to which they operate.
Sources said tourism policy-makers and traditional tour operators would have an in-depth discussion on the introduction of Low Cost Carriers in Pakistan and its impact on the tourism industry.
An experienced international consultant, a senior academic and an airline CEO will lead the conference, supported by experts from member countries.
Ministers and senior officials of national tourism administrations as well representatives of both the airline industry and private sector tourism interests will also attend the conference.
The LCC phenomenon has been present in the United States for over 30 years. However, the rapid growth of the sector occurred in both Europe and the US after deregulation of air transport.
In Asia and the Pacific region, growth in this sector was initially in deregulated domestic markets but has subsequently spread rapidly to international markets.
Although Asia-Pacific destinations do not figure strongly in the list of top arrivals and earners, they are expected to dominate global economic growth in the travel and tourism industry in the years to come.—A Reporter
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