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Tourism trade hit by volcano fallout
(Volume 26, No. 520)
TOURISM-RELATED businesses were last week counting the cost of a volcano eruption in Iceland that forced the cancellation of thousands of flights to and from Europe last week.
The eruption, which began on April 15, resulted in an ash cloud settling over much of Europe and prompted authorities to shut down European airspace for nearly seven days.
Flight schedules returned to normal on April 22 but tourism businesses said the incident would significantly dent profits. Hotels, travel agencies and airlines said the flight chaos had caused “widespread disruptions” and many bookings had been cancelled as a result of the Eyjafjjoell volcano.
The duty manager at Parkroyal Hotel Yangon told The Myanmar Times the hotel was currently experiencing “very low occupancy” for what is considered a peak time for visitors from Europe.
“This is not a good thing for the hotel, we have had 30 rooms cancelled,” she said on April 21. “As a result we are expecting very little, if any profits for this month.”
A spokesperson for Silk Air’s Yangon office said that the cancellation of flights had forced almost 50 passengers to extend their stay in Yangon until flights resumed.
“Most of these people are waiting for flights to Europe and New York from Singapore [with Singapore Airlines],” the spokesperson said.
Silk Air was offering stranded passengers four days of accommodation.
“Some people had trouble with expenses, as they could not use their credit cards in Yangon,” she said.
The airline has also agreed to waive administrative fees and penalty fees for refunds and rerouting for affected customers with tickets issued before April 15.
U Tin Tun, district sales manager at Thai Airways International, said that most of the airline’s customers had chosen to fly out to Bangkok in the hope of getting a connecting flight to Europe, rather than wait in Yangon.
“We don’t know how many passengers were then stranded [in Bangkok],” U Tin Tun said.
Thai Airways has already refunded several tickets for Myanmar customers who had been forced to cancel their trips abroad, he added.
U Min Thant, the reservation and ticketing manager at Yangon-based Sun Far Travels and Tours, said last week it had been “impossible” to book Europe-bound flights for stranded passengers.
“We have been constantly watching the airlines’ official websites for updated information and then as soon as we receive new information we are contacting the passengers who have been stranded in Yangon,” he told The Myanmar Times on April 22.
A spokesperson from Exotissimo Travel in Yangon, Kyaw Lwin U, said his office had also been kept busy trying to get clients back to Europe.
“I know of around 20-30 people who need to get back to Rome,” he said on April 21, adding that at least 12 clients had cancelled tours arranged through Exotissimo.
Embassies in Yangon said they were preparing to deal with any issues that may arise because of the flight cancellations, including travellers running out of money or overstaying visas.
Mr Jeremy Hodges, the charge d’affaires at the British embassy, said on April 21 the embassy had not yet had any requests for assistance.
“I have heard of other European embassies who are having problems… but so far we have not had any inquiries from tourists yet,” Mr Hodges said via phone interview on April 21.
