At the Qatar Economic Forum, aircraft manufacturers, airlines and hotel tycoons welcomed the strong recovery of the sector, while stressing the importance of the Asian country's clientele.

"The desire to travel has never been greater and the industry is struggling to meet that demand," said Boeing CEO David Calhoun, who said he was overwhelmed with aircraft orders.

While the summer season in the northern hemisphere should allow air traffic to return to pre-pandemic levels, carriers are also counting on Chinese passengers, freed from restrictions imposed during the pandemic, to fill their coffers.

Qatar Airways flights from China are "absolutely full", said the boss of the Gulf company, Akbar al-Baker.

Qatar Airways boss Akbar Al Baker in Doha on November 13, 2022 © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP/Archives

"Not only do they pay the imposed fares due to the lack of available capacity, but they spend more money in our duty-free shops at (Doha) airport than any other nationals," he added.

For Thai-American billionaire William Ellwood Heinecke, owner of the Minor International hotel group, the boom in Chinese demand should be fully felt in the second half of the year.

"We are certainly in full rebound, but the most important thing is that we have not yet seen China come back," he said, noting that the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand in the first quarter was still 85 percent lower than in 2019.

Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes, who owns Air Asia, hopes that the 250 low-cost airlines, grounded during the health crisis, can be put back into service by August.

"We are in a strange situation: yesterday we were fighting for our survival, today we are restarting 200 planes, which is a colossal job," he said.

"Reasonable price"

Industry players have seen the market evolve, with leisure travel taking precedence over business travel, which traditionally accounted for two-thirds of demand.

"This distribution will probably be reversed. We are already at 55% for leisure and 45% for business," said Sébastien Bazin, CEO of the Accor hotel group, the largest in Europe, blaming this trend on remote work.

Camel ride in the dunes of Al Wakrah, south of Doha, December 12, 2022 © David GANNON / AFP / Archives

Industry representatives also defended rising prices in the market, citing losses accumulated during Covid-19.

"We have been through two years of hell," Bazin recalled, according to which the rate for deluxe rooms is currently 33 to 35 percent higher than in 2019, while regular rooms are 10 to 12 percent more expensive.

The hospitality industry is also facing increasing difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, he said.

The lobby of the Al-Messila Hotel, in Doha, on October 13, 2022 © - / AFP/Archives

Institutions that relied on low interest rates, cheap labour and low energy prices need to rethink their model, Heinecke said.

As for plane tickets, they are now at a "reasonable price", said Malaysian Tony Fernandes.

© 2023 AFP