Last week the UAE lifted its travel restrictions and the travel industry went into overdrive almost immediately.
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Oman, some of the most popular and sought-after destinations in the world, were suddenly back on the table. And the public, who had quietly been waiting, made their feelings very clear within hours.
Not Just Travel consultants were already seeing a surge in enquiries and bookings before the weekend had even arrived. The marketing team mobilised, new campaign assets and email materials were in consultants’ hands within twenty-four hours and the phones were busy. Co-founder Steve Witt put it simply: the world is open. Get ready.
The reaction from within our network has been immediate. Ashley Phillips, co-owner of Travel Chaps, one of our most successful Not Just Travel agencies, has already begun interviewing for new staff in anticipation of the increased demand. As Ashley told Travel Weekly this week:
“This news will open the gates to the new clients who have been holding their breath before contacting us.”
That kind of confidence from one of the most established names in our network says everything about what this moment represents for the travel industry.
Why this matters for anyone thinking about starting a travel business
The reopening of the UAE is not just good news for Dubai bookings. It is a signal of something bigger. Every time a major destination becomes accessible again, demand does not simply return to where it was. It surges. Pent-up interest, deferred bookings and a wave of travellers who have been waiting for exactly this moment all move at once. And the consultants who are already building their businesses are the ones who benefit most.
On top of that, the late booking market, which accounts for over sixty per cent of all holiday bookings, runs from now through to September and October. Families booking last-minute summer holidays. Couples escaping after the August school rush. Travellers heading into autumn when the crowds have thinned and the prices are sharp. It is consistently one of the busiest and most commercially productive periods of the travel year.
Add the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix towards the end of the year, the extraordinary hotels and experiences that make Dubai one of the most searched destinations on earth, and operators who were caught slightly off guard by the speed of the reopening and are currently offering some incredibly competitive pricing, and the picture becomes very clear. The opportunity right now is real and it is significant.
As Steve explained, many of the most popular long-haul destinations, the Maldives, Mauritius, Thailand, the Seychelles and Australia, are commonly routed through the UAE. A night or two in Dubai on the way to Mauritius. A stop in Abu Dhabi before continuing to Australia. Those combined itineraries, which were complicated or unavailable for much of this year, are now back. The ripple effect across the whole travel market is already being felt.
Why this highlight exactly what travel consultants are for
The significance of this reopening has been recognised at the highest levels of the industry. Mark Tanzer, chief executive of ABTA, described it as “the most important development for tourism to and through the Middle East in some time” in comments made to the BBC last week.
“We know the government won’t have taken this decision lightly,” he added, and expected to see a “positive impact” on travel to the region.
When the chief executive of the UK’s leading travel industry body describes a development in those terms, it is worth paying attention.
When the Middle East conflict first escalated earlier this year, thousands of people who had booked their holidays independently found themselves with nobody to call. No dedicated contact. No one who knew their booking or their situation. Personal travel consultants were a completely different story.
Joanna, one of our Not Just Travel consultants, had a client in Dubai when the situation escalated. Missiles were flying over the city. What should have been the most stressful experience of her trip became, thanks to Joanna, almost entirely stress-free. Joanna was already working behind the scenes before her client had time to panic, keeping communication open throughout and ensuring her client had one clear message: someone is handling this for you. Her client flew home on her original departure day, in the Emirates lounge, without a single moment of genuine stress.
That is not a lucky outcome. That is what happens when someone who genuinely knows what they are doing is in your corner. And it is exactly the kind of experience that turns a first-time client into a loyal one for life.
The demand for personal travel consultants who can be trusted, reached and relied upon is not a trend that appeared overnight. It has been building steadily, accelerated by every period of uncertainty that highlighted how much it matters to have a real person in your corner when plans change. What the UAE reopening has done is create a very visible, very immediate reminder of exactly that point at exactly the right time.
If you have been thinking about starting a travel business, now is the time to act
The combination of circumstances the travel industry is experiencing right now is genuinely unusual. A major global travel region has just reopened, releasing a wave of pent-up demand that will ripple through the market for the rest of the year. The late booking season is in full swing. Operators are offering sharp pricing. And consumers who have spent the past year learning the hard way what they give up when they book without a professional are increasingly looking for someone they can trust.
If you start now, you will complete your training and be ready to trade right as that demand peaks. You will not be watching from the outside as other consultants capitalise on the busiest period of the year. You will be part of it.
As Steve put it last Friday, the world is open. There has rarely been a better time to be part of the industry that helps people explore it.
The Travel Franchise gives you everything needed to start from day one. Full training, a dedicated Business Consultant, proven marketing support and a model refined over more than twenty years. The Lite package starts from the equivalent of £28 a week, part time, with an experienced mentor by your side from day one. The Elite package at £14,995 plus VAT is the flagship, with two fully funded overseas mentorship retreats included as standard and the unique Money-Back Challenge, where the entire franchise fee is refunded if a set commission level is reached in the first twelve months.
