Travel to look forward to

We're starting to see some things to look forward to.  Recently, I posted a blog about turning the corner and how things will change.   So let's turn our attention what to look forward to. Please note that much of this information is from Travel Weekly magazine.

Demand

There's ample evidence of pent up demand.  Think about all those destination weddings, honeymoons, family vacations and reunions, golf trips or just friends vacationing together that have been deferred.  Most people's travel budgets are way underspent.  Many are thinking about their bucket list, now that they see first hand how fragile opportunities to travel can be. Face it, we're not getting any younger.

There's a lot of demand for trips two and three years away.  When Azamara released it's 2022 - 2023 cruises, they attracted 3 times more bookings in the first week than in previous years. And they are seeing strong demand for British Open in 2022 tours and the Suez Canal - Europe to Asia itinerary. They've also seen requests for more back to back cruises as well.  Oceania's Labor Day upgrade sale was the most successful holiday promotion in their history.  And encouragingly, nearly half of the new reservations were from new guests with less than 5% of reservations using cruise credits from previously canceled voyages.  Regent Cruises broke it's own record for it's January 20223 world cruise.

New opportunities

Surely the luxury segment has been the most resilient market.  We're seeing new opportunities for high end travel in North America and the Caribbean in very small customized groups. For those that are more intrepid, there's plenty of deals happening right now, including lots of free upgrades for specialties like tours of Turkey or remote islands.  African Safari trips are also popular with many high end clients.  They don't want the window to close again.

Many suppliers have developed new tools and products including more digital resources.  For example, Trafalgar Travel partnered with Uplift, a travel loan company where you can lock in at todays' prices for a 2021 trip, and then pay in installments. Their thinking: an incremental $15 per month can make the difference between ordinary and extra special experience.

Need more ideas?

Here's a list of top destinations  and some alternatives destinations to visit as well.

Here's some more new ideas on where to travel and here's a quick blog we wrote on everything from a quick weekend to a luxury vacation.

In the coming years, we're looking forward to our:

• Beer themed river cruise on the Rhine Oct 2021
• Egypt and Nile river cruise March 2022
• Beer themed Paris to Normandy river cruise Oct 2022
• A circle Japan trip which is one option described here