Maldives destination booming in “eastern block” – Poland to follow as Itaka chrtr starts

Russia Ukraine Romania Czech Republic in TOP 10, will Poland join the leaders? What conclusions for LOT?

Very interesting data was published by the Maldives Tourism Authority. We got the statistics of arrivals from the beginning of the year to mid-February. Eastern Europe (Russia) rules the Maldives.

Eastern Europe with an increase in arrivals by over 70%

Although for all nations arrivals to the Maldives fell by 44%, against this background, Eastern Europe looks impressive, generating a 70% increase. Russia is the leader in our region with 32,000 tourists, followed by Ukraine with a score of 10K. Then Kazakhstan (we belong to the east) 7K, Romania 6K and the Czech Republic 3.7K. So in the TOP 10 we have 5 countries from the region.

As if that were not enough, also smaller countries such as Bulgaria and Lithuania recorded impressive results. With the results of 1.9 K and 1.3 K, respectively.

It must be admitted that the results are particularly impressive against the background of giants such as Germany or France. 5.7 and 4.8k respectively.

And where is Poland in this background?

As indicated by the data on ticket sales in Poland, we can observe a similar fashion for exotic destinations. However, in our case, Dubai, Cancun and Zanzibar remained the leaders. The reason is the simple availability of charters and cheaper airline tickets to these destinations.

Minus 84% in air ticket sales after half of Feb – duty trips dying only exotic holidays counts

Although Poland is not listed in the published statistics, in our case there is progress in sales. Iata agents sold over 800  destination Male travel tickets in January, an increase of 33%. For February journeys we have sold over 700 tickets with an increase of 2%. When it comes to February, we can already see the Itaka charter effect which will “take” regular airline tickets from the market.

When analyzing ticket sales from Poland, it is worth noting a significant increase in the average ticket price, in January it was 44% and in February as much as 65%. You can see that the main airlines operating in this direction have sensed the interest and raised prices in solidarity. Such an increase certainly translated into weaker results of the Maldives from Poland.

Also in this case, Itaka charter can be a game-changer. Regular airlines will have to adjust their prices.

Itaka takes a charter to Velana International Airports

On February 19, the first Itaka charter trip to  Maldives took place in cooperation with the local operator Sun Ocean. Operations are scheduled for February and March and seem to be in line with the trend described above. They may also contribute to the greater willingness of the local tourist organization to subsidize this type of charters in the future.

Certainly Itaka has a chance to successfully sell an offer to the Maldives.  The above-mentioned increase in the prices of regular tickets will be favorable to her. The last recorded average price of tickets above PLN 4,000 gross is certainly a level with which charter can freely compete.

Itaka can also count on the support of travel agencies that can buy back tickets that have not been sold. The luxury segment will be eager to promote a new direct connection to the Maldives. Sales of market leaders such as Carter / Luxury travel indicate a significant revival in this segment.

Maldives a case to think for LOT

LOT can also draw very interesting conclusions from the cited statistics. As you can see, the potential of luxury tourism in Eastern Europe is huge. It should be duly taken into account when planning the network for Winter 2020/21. Cancun seems to be so-called no-brainer. But maybe you can try other directions. Maybe the Maldives.

It is a pity that LOT, in principle, cannot take advantage of the synergy between Sri Lanka to which it flies and the nearby Maldives. For this, you need a partner line that is well-oriented to cooperation. Unfortunately for LOT, Sri Lankan is already embraced by Emirates.

A possible regular connection to the Maldives would be an effective tool to stop the expansion of Emirates / Fly Dubai in Poland. Naturally, the first thing to do is to connect to Dubai.

Dubai its time for LOT to start flying there

The cited report of the local tourist organization can be downloaded from the link.