Travel agents in Bahrain anticipate more financial losses in the next year due to ‘passenger phobia’ and international travel restrictions, according to a new survey.
The survey conducted by the Association of Bahrain Travel and Tour Agents (ABTTA) covered 88 respondents to assess the economic impact they were facing since the outbreak of the pandemic in February.
The findings of the survey showed that 100 per cent of the respondents agreed they will face financial losses between six to 12 months.
Furthermore, 56pc of the respondents stated they expected the crisis to continue for one year or more before the travel and tourism sector in Bahrain started to recover.
“The total sum of monthly rent paid by all participants is BD97,622,” stated the survey, that covered all the branches operated by the travel agents who took part in the survey.
A table showing the measures taken by travel agents to sustain operations during Covid-19
A total of 79pc of those covered in the survey stated that travel and tourism activities was the main source of income to the business owner.
The King Fahad Causeway has been closed since early March, while visa-on-arrival options were suspended just days later as part of travel restrictions to help limit the spread of the virus.
Only Bahrainis and those with valid work, or visit visas applied for by residents, have been allowed to enter the country.
ABTTA board chairman Jehad Amin said the first-of-its-kind survey covered different travel and tourism agents with 42pc of them operating for more than a decade.
The total number of registered staff, employed by the 88 participants, was 832, with an average of 10 staff in each of the rented offices located across the country.
“One of the most interesting findings in this survey was that the percentage of Bahrainis working in the travel agent industry was 49pc compared with 51pc non-Bahrainis,” said Mr Amin.
“There are more than 100 travel agencies in the country who continue to be affected due to flight restrictions and no inbound or outbound tourism.”
He said many offices were seeking government funding to stay afloat during these testing times.
“There has been a dramatic decrease in activities and some owners are on the verge of ceasing their operations and laying off staff,” he added.
This was backed up in the survey with 46pc saying they had asked their staff to go on annual leave, 36pc on unpaid leave, 30pc of employers terminated their employees contracts and 42pc temporarily suspended operations.
Meanwhile, the survey revealed that monthly salaries the 88 respondents gave to their staff amounted to BD448,868, while 38pc of those stated their average turnover in the past three years was under BD500,000.
The respondents (51pc) added that they applied and received Tamkeen support to sustain their operations. A total of 76pc of the participants stated they lost all (100pc) of their incomes over the past three months due to the pandemic compared with what they earned before Covid-19.
The findings showed that 51pc of respondents stated the government financial stimulus package was not effective for travel and tourism agents
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