Agents are rallying to support their customers amidst the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, but warn the situation could have a significant knock-on effect on the future of travel to the region

The US-Israel military action in Iran entered its sixth day on Thursday (5 March), following escalations at the weekend where air strikes killed Iranian leader Ali Khamenei. Iran responded by bombing US allies in the region with Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait all hit.

The events have led to widespread travel chaos, which Advantage Travel Partnership CEO Julia Lo Bue-Said described as the worst since the pandemic, with cruise lines and airlines forced to cancel departures and many passengers left without clear instructions on what to do next.

Agents have been working to support customers in the region and to reassure those due to travel in the coming days, weeks and months.

Both Robbie O’Grady, founder of The Cruise Room, and Shona Thorne, managing director of Thorne Travel, have customers on MSC Euribia which is currently docked in Dubai with many passengers unable to leave the vessel. O’Grady also has customers set to board the ship on 13 March, but said the chances of them sailings is looking “increasingly unlikely”.

The cruise line has chartered five flights to repatriate 1,000 guests currently onboard in Dubai.

Widespread disruption

Although the conflict is mainly confined to Middle East, customers are being impacted globally as Dubai and Abu Dhabi are huge transit hubs.

Thorne said: “We have customers impacted in Dubai, Thailand and Australia due to airspace changes and flight disruptions, and we have seen an increase in calls from worried clients who are due to travel in the next few days. They are understandably anxious and just want clear guidance.”

Sam Ballard, managing director of Club Voyages, said: “Our main issue isn’t necessarily travellers heading to the Middle East – although we do have quite a few of those in the coming weeks – it’s more people transiting through the major hubs like Dubai.”

Ballard said he currently has a client who is due to take a Japan cruise at the start of April and is flying via Dubai. Ballard is pricing alternative flights for him, but he will have to pay cancellation fees on the original tickets.

“For clients like that, whose destination is not Dubai or the Middle East, I do think that when presented with options they will look to avoid the Middle East, even if it is less cost-effective to do so,” he said. “Whether that holds into the future, we’ll have to see.”

Future bookings

Many agents envision an impact on future bookings, but are hopeful the damage will be limited to the short term. O’Grady has had two sets of customers abandon Mediterranean travel plans following the events of the weekend.

Thorne said: “In terms of future bookings, I do think there may be a short term impact, particularly for late bookings to destinations such as Turkey, Cyprus and Greece. When headlines are dominated by conflict, confidence can dip.

“However, we have had many challenges in the travel industry and experience shows demand tends to recover once situations stabilise and advice becomes clearer.”

Travel Counsellor Emma Otter said: “I absolutely do think that this will impact future Middle East bookings. I have had a conversation with customers due to visit Dubai for Easter, they visit every year, and they are now more interested in cancelling in favour of Spain and Portugal.”

O’Grady added: “[The conflict] will lead to a reduction in interest in the region for a while, there is no doubt. Moments like this will impact all travel, especially anyone nervous about travelling.”

Importance of agents

ABTA has praised the performance of agents and emphasised the value of booking through an agent instead of directly with a cruise line or airline.

Otter highlighted the value agents can bring in reassuring customers on their future travel plans, and emphasised the importance of booking through the trade.

“I have had numerous requests for guests cruising out of Greece later in the spring and summer to ask my thoughts on the troubles,” she said. “I’ve mentioned that I am personally travelling to Greece and Cyprus at the end of the month and am waiting and hoping for the problems to slow down, reminding them that we would act only on an imminent departure to protect customers’ hard earned monies.

“We don’t want customers to have a knee jerk reaction based on social media or press reporting and lose money as a result of making a premature decision about summer plans.”

She added: “As agents, we must remind the customers about the protection and reassurance of booking a package instead of the DIYers. As with Covid, looking after our cruisers and acknowledging their concerns with care and empathy will go a long way in future business and relationship building.”