Well, folks – the World is opening up and our industry is going through an immense surge in bookings and travel inquiries. As predicted, airfares & property rentals/ hotel prices are going up, availability is tight especially for summer travel – there’s a huge shortage of rental cars.
2021
1.We’re seeing lack of trained staff in all sectors of the travel supply chain (remember the industry completely shut down during the pandemic and instead of waking up slowly – we’ve been shaken awake with the pent up demand to travel NOW)
2. There’s a shortage of Pilots to fly planes and hence a shortage of flights.  In addition, the planes were also “sleeping” during the shutdown and the airlines can’t “wake up the planes” quick enough.
In a sense, it’s the perfect storm.
3. The US and Caribbean islands, Hawaii and Mexico are completely booked up as more travelers are staying closer to home and up until last month, Europe wasn’t even an option for US travelers.  These destinations are also dealing with the same issues we are seeing here – staff shortages, limited capacity and Covid.  The Holiday season is completely booked up in these markets too.
We don’t mean to sound all doom and gloom as any of us would take this year over last year any day but we’ve gone from zero to 100 in no time.  It’s going to take a while to settle down, so just pack your patience when looking at options.
2022 and beyond-
Think of all the folks who had to move their trips from 2020 to 2021…..and now into 2022 and beyond.  There’s a huge backlog of re-booked trips.  Think of the pent up demand of  people who wanted to travel in 2020 and didn’t get to do that!  The latest buzzwords we’re hearing in our industry are “rebound travel & revenge spending”  
These are the types of travel trends we’re predicting for the next couple of years:

▸Off the beaten path- immersive local travel experiences

▸Travel in your “Bubble” – Escorted small group travel

▸River Cruising and small ship cruises

▸Multigenerational Family travel trips

▸Villa and private home rentals

▸Longer vacations (AMA Waterways 46-day, 7 rivers cruise)

▸Bucket List destinations

▸Pre-booked tours and activities

▸Lower capacity in hotels & on tours

One thing is for sure, if you are thinking of traveling for this year or next, NOW is the time to start planning.  Don’t leave your trip of a lifetime or bucket list vacation to chance, reach out and let us help you plan your special trip – we have your back from start to finish, you have the reassurance of working with accredited, knowledgeable professionals, you will have access to the largest luxury consortia of destination companies, the Best of the Best hotels and properties,  and the benefit of our endless resources.   We’d be honored to work with you.