Ms. Sarah Sheikh – Leisure traveler

An aspiring 22-year-old whose ambition is to travel the world before she turns 40, uber-adventurous Sarah loves to discover more about her destinations by reading books and challenging herself to visit the many cities that come up in her readings. Born and raised in the U.A.E,  Sarah feels lucky for growing up amidst a multitude of cultures, which makes her more adaptable and understanding. A successful employee on the verge of getting her second promotion, she’s extremely thankful for her job, especially when she sees friends and family being greatly affected by the recession. She travels mostly with her family and when looking for travel packages, she does not fail to admit that she’s searching for the most reasonable package. However, she usually ends up with a high-end package tour. “Comfort and good treatment are key”.

Sarah loves to let her imagination run wild especially when it comes to her vision of the future of air travel. According to her, cities are becoming too crowded and people are running out of personal space. This lack of intimacy will greatly influence the travel industry, increasing the need for personal getaways. Hence, she sees the travel industry flourishing in the future. She also explained that airlines will have to conform to the needs of the post recession consumer, who will always opt for better deals and good value for money. However, dearer to her heart is the fear of terrorism and global epidemics. All this, according to her, will increase safety procedures and make travelling an even bigger burden. Playing an important role in the increase of the safety procedures, new technologies will enhance security. Furthermore, she feels that technology will be so advanced that people will be able to see their destinations and where they’ll be staying via live online tours assisted by the likes of Google earth. 

Finally, Sarah is frustrated with the travel industry as she feels there are too many changes, she reckons it’s because of the recession, but she’s deeply unhappy with the ticket price fluctuations. “I feel like they’re toying with us and testing our limits so they can try to churn more money out of us”. She furthered this comment by explaining that the service in airlines today is abysmal and that every time she sits in an airplane, she relates to cattle in a feed lot. Her most recent trip with Cathay Pacific was the instigator of that thought which she described as her worst flying experience. “The seats are for tiny Asian people and not tall people like me. There was no Muslim food and the only thing I could ask for as a snack was peanuts and juice; the food was disgusting”. Adding to that thought, Sara mentions Emirates airlines. She recalls that she receives the worst treatment ever when she traveled with them and cannot help but feel discriminated against because she is Pakistani. “When I would call the waitresses, they would ignore me or pretend they did not hear me, and when they do come to you they are very rude and have a snobbish look on their face. I’m not the only one who feels this way about them”. This anger was further fuelled by the fact that she paid AED 3000. From now on, she avoids flying with Emirates. This anger is also fuelled by their advertising: “I feel angry whenever I see their advertisement' they confuse me, they need to figure out how to market themselves. One minute I see a boy playing football and the other I see their hot airhostesses, what is it they are trying to market? Qatar and Gulf are marketing their service…Emirates should focus on one thing and come up with a new strategy to market themselves. They can’t be everything”. She also mentions that they come off as a pretentious brand leading her to the conclusion that they are being ‘snobby for nothing!’

Sara is a strong believer that Emirates should learn from McDonalds and their “exquisite service”. A radiant smile starts to unravel as she describes McDonald’s employees’ work ethic; “these people are always smiling; they’ll fix your problems happily and instantly. The food comes to you on time and their service is consistent in every branch in the country. I like their -come see our kitchen - concept. This shows the level of honesty they preserve and the amount of care they have for customers”. Our conversation ended with Sara trying to convince me that Louis Vuitton would make a truly exclusive and superior airline when it comes to service. She imagines that their service would match the excellence of their in-store service. ‘They will give proper individual service and will leave no passenger unattended. Everyone on that plan would feel like a VIP. If that kind of treatment was guaranteed, I am willing to pay whatever the cost is. Nothing matches a comfortable, memorable flight experience”.