The U. S. Travel Association recently released a new survey targeting information on family vacations. This survey found that adults say their most vivid childhood recollections are of family vacations. Children surveyed also say they enjoy vacation time with parents and grandparents. This poll surveyed more than 2500 adults and 1100 youth, and some who were as young as 5 years old.
I talked a little bit at the end of January about river cruising, especially in Europe. We promoted a river cruise on the Rhine for this year in November, and it sold out by August of last year; furthermore, to take advantage of the great rate, it was fully paid, cruise and air by middle December.
I am out and about in the community in a lot of social, business, and church settings, and for the past two weeks, since the Carnival Triumph unfortunate situation, there is always someone wanting to know how my cruise business is doing. . .asking that question with a sly smile on their face. I know they’re thinking that cruise sales are in the tank. . .but in reality, they are not!! Thank goodness!!
Did you ever see that movie The Bucket List starring two of my favorite actors, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman? Ever since that movie came out, every time I turn around someone is promoting or talking about their “bucket list”. It’s especially true in travel circles.
Something is always happening in the travel business. . .it’s seldom the same ‘ole, same ‘ole. Airfares change by the minute, conventions spring up in resorts that our client wants to go to, the weather is always unpredictable, something is always changing.
For the past two years, we have seen an uptick in clients booking river cruises, especially in Europe. . . not only in Europe but also in China and now here in the United States.
We get this response all the time when we are quoting an airfare and the caller will say, “we saw that price a whole lot less on the internet”. Our quote is directly tied to the airline, so we know it is a current rate at that particular time, but one of the important factors the caller hasn’t told us is when they saw that price a lot less. And they could have been on one of several on-line operators like Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak, Orbitz.
There is something uplifting and energizing when anticipating a vacation or a trip away from the daily activities of life. I’m certainly not a psychologist, but I’m sure there is a psychological term to identify this emotional boost to our looking forward to a trip. My observation has always been that at least 75% of the enjoyment of a trip is the positive anticipation during the planning stage.
That title certainly does not apply to this time of the year, it’s really dark during the winters up in the 49th state. But, during the summer, 18-20 hours of sunlight is commonplace. That was the one thing that really amazed me on my first trip to Alaska back in the mid-90s; we’d go to bed at 10:30PM, and the sun would still be coming through our bedroom window. It’s really not that bad though, in a day or two you are used to it, and glad that it is that way; it certainly gives you more time to do things.
Are you ready for 2013???. . .sure felt funny typing that date in today for the first time.
Last week I referred to several destinations and segments of the industry that were experiencing upticks in their current business and indications for the immediate future. Both Mexico and Israel are very positive about their tourist trade for 2013, airlines are looking at their numbers enthusiastically rising, and the cruise trade is pumped about guests scheduling vacations with them. One segment that I did not mention was the Hawaii market.
Don’t ask me how, but based on reports from the travel industry, we are poised for one of the best years in a long time. Read on:
Way back in July I reported that American Airlines had a $240 million loss in the 2nd quarter and Delta reported a loss of $168 million in the 2nd quarter, but the CEO of American had told a crowd of corporate travel agents at that time that he expected their airline would return to being an industry leader by the end of the year. Well, we’re getting close to the end of the year and I haven’t heard them crowing about that yet!!
Reading an article in the Dallas Morning News a couple of months ago reminded me that I should blog some information about cruising with kids. That’s an important topic to several families who are cruising over the Christmas holidays, as well as for those who are planning Spring Break and Summer family vacations.
One of the real dilemmas families and travel agents have in planning a vacation is what to do with families of more than 4, especially if they all want to be together. Hotels and cruise lines will not allow more than four to a room, so the last one born has to sleep out in the hall!!! No not really, there are other more practical solutions but they oftentimes cost more money.
We escorted a group last Feb. to the Holy Land, and I’ve looked back over our comments since we returned and noted that I did not really say a whole lot about it, other than that we had a wonderful, memorable experience. One elderly deacon, while meditating at the Garden Tomb, expressed it this way “my life will never be the same”.
One of the greatest vacation cities in the world is Las Vegas, Nevada. They literally have something for all ages to enjoy. In recent past, that city and area has been the most popular vacation location that we have sold. Seemingly they reinvent themselves every two to three years.
We hope you'll enjoy our new website and will get a lot of use from it. Some of the features we like the most are the Online Booking Tool, the great photos in our Photo Gallery, and of course, our new Travel Blog!
