U.S. Tour Operators See Boom After Inbound Testing Requirement Ends
byDaniel McCarthy/
新闻上周美国将删除其入站测试要求, one of the last remaining COVID-19-era restrictions for American travelers, caused applause from around the travel industry, including来自顾问,他们焦急地等待着业务的增长。
旅游运营商本周与TMR交谈说,他们也看到了宣布的重大积极影响,他们希望在国际上度假的旅行者几乎立即接电话,而其他人则从国内转移到国际目的地。beplay银行卡
Collette的发言人告诉TMR,旅行社“很高兴”看到测试要求提高了。消息传出后的两天半,科莱特看到国际预订的国际预订发生了重大转变。
“Approximately 75% of the business that has come in (from a bookings standpoint) are for international tours, and of that, more than half is for this calendar year! It’s clear that guests who are excited to travel in 2022 were waiting for this last requirement to be dropped,” the spokesperson said.
Globus Brands家族的CMO史蒂夫·伯恩(Steve Born)告诉TMR,该消息是“明确的旅行信心指标”。
“我们一直在等待这个消息表示欢迎ong time and are thrilled the day to drop these requirements has finally arrived!” he said.
According to Born, volume for Globus is already up over 50% from the same time the week prior, which he called a “very positive sign.”
“We know our advisor partners and their clients are relieved by this news and will remove what’s been seen as the leading barrier to international travel,” he said, adding that Globus expects its remaining 2022 inventory to start moving quickly. “We’re poised and staffed to help advisors with the new demand and the positive impact it will have on international travel, including a welcomed boost in bookings for the Globus family this summer and fall.”
Paul Barry, the CEO of Avanti, the operator that exclusively does FIT vacations, told TMR that Avanti, too, has already seen “a positive impact.”
“We’ve seen a significant increase in terms of the number of quotations for FIT travel that have been requested by advisors since the CDC made their announcement. That number is still growing - but at this point, it is about 15% above the number we were receiving before the announcement," he said.
According to Tauck’s COO Jeremy Palmer, gross booking rates have increased by nearly a third overall compared to the prior three weeks, and in Europe “it’s surged by two-thirds.”
“For our guests, return testing has been one of the single biggest barriers to travel, and a source of great anxiety. Not only has the announcement lifted a huge burden from our guests – as evidenced by the dramatic surge in bookings – but it’s been a cause for celebration within Tauck, throughout our travel advisor network, and across our entire industry. It marks another major step forward on the path back toward normalcy,” he said.
Rosanne Zusman, the CCO from CIE Tours International, an operator that sells a lot of Ireland, along with the U.K., Italy, Iceland, and more, told TMR that spring and summer interest for international travel was already “robust” but there’s been a “difference in the tone of the calls over the past week.”
“旅行社和旅行者都对旅行前景和对在2022年进行旅行的承诺毫不犹豫地更加积极。同时,我们的2023年预订自1月下旬开始销售以来,我们的2023年预订一直很活跃,我们继续看到pent-pert--提高需求,导致长期假期成为现实。”她说。
There hasn’t been much change to tours, Zusman said—the inbound testing requirement had been an obstacle in getting people to book and allowing them to feel comfortable abroad. The experience in destination, logistically, remains the same. Still, the attitude of passengers has certainly changed.
“The mood of passengers has most certainly been buoyed by the change. The specter of ending the tour on a sour note with a positive test is no longer hanging over their head and they are free to enjoy every moment of their vacation.”