TRAVEL agencies Malaysia anticipate dampened demand for outbound tours during the upcoming MATTA Fair in Kuala Lumpur, which starts this Friday and runs through the weekend. However, none interviewed have seen cancellations.
Their projection follows the recent disappearance of Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) Beijing-bound flight MH370, which went missing on March 8 after its departure from Kuala Lumpur (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 10, 2014).
Sedunia Travel business development manager for wholesale, Gary Oh, expects medium- and longhaul packages to be affected. “Since the incident, longhaul bookings have slowed down…However, outbound tours to regional destinations are still holding strong,” he said.
Apple Vacations & Conventions group managing director, Desmond Lee, added: “I anticipate our sales during MATTA Fair will be affected as some travellers may wish to defer their holiday plans. However, I don’t think there will be a drastic drop in package sales compared with the previous year.”
He noted a few enquiries from travellers who have booked MAS flights and wanted to change airlines. “They were concerned about their safety, but when they heard that had to pay a fee for changes, there was no further call for action. We have two full-board tours to Beijing next month and so far, no client has backed out.”
Similarly, Mayflower Acme Tours deputy general manager for channel management, Abdul Rahman Mohamed, anticipates a dampened mood for travel, but declined to predict the extent of the impact. His company has not received any cancellations of deferments so far.
“It shows Malaysians are confident about flying,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the search for MH370 is still ongoing. MAS issued a statement today saying that the Boeing 777-200 had undergone maintenance 10 days before its flight and no issues on the health of the aircraft had surfaced. Its next check is due on June 19.
The airline also said it is working closely with the government of China to expedite the issuance of passports for the families of the missing passengers who intend to travel to Malaysia, as well as with the immigration of Malaysia on the issuance of their visas into Malaysia.
MAS will deploy an additional aircraft to bring the families from Beijing from Kuala Lumpur today. Oneworld partners have also been engaged to help the families from other countries to travel to Kuala Lumpur.
