Category: Travel Problems

Background;

When a tour operator starts up, they will usually rely on ad-hoc flight seat purchase, but with variable pricing this soon introduces costs outside of their control which could limit the sale of their products. To overcome this a tour operator usually negotiates group rates with an airline to agree an amount of seats for a given price.

As demand increases further, a tour operator may schedule planes exclusively for their customers (a charter flight). They buy the entire plane for a fixed cost. A chartered flight isn’t published by the airline, and is exclusively sold by the tour operator (operated by the airline).

Continue reading “With increasing airline costs, will charter flights in 2023 be a luxury tour operators may not be able to afford?”

Free Independent travellers like to make their own plans, build and book their own itineraries.

With lots of offers available its tempting to book that AirBNB, some flights, transfers and excursions (all on separate bookings)

Since covid, tourism is restarting but with staff issues, IT challenges, and increasing inflation globally, the risks of holiday disasters are higher than ever.

How can you protect yourself ?

Continue reading “With travel disruption on the rise, travel agents are more essential than ever.”

At the minute travel companies are releasing sales promoting a low deposit, fully flexible booking to secure their 2021 holiday.

With the current terms, your deposit is refundable (cash/voucher), previously this would have been non-refundable. As a result many consumers are willing to potentially book multiple bookings (to different destinations) on the hopes that they can get a great deal for multiple possible destinations by booking early, and then cancelling nearer the time of departure

Continue reading “Could revenue and accounting departments be in for a challenge for 2021 bookings?”

I, like many people rebooked my August 2020 booking to 2021 assuming that the world would be back to normal by then. At the time I thought a year for the virus to be under control was realistic. I didn’t expect the subsequent waves of COVID-19 which followed.

Before we start, let me say; I believe the lockdowns are necessary, the heath of the world is the most important thing, however our economies are paying the price whilst this happens, and this can only happen for so long before we enter a recession on a global scale. We have to re-ignite economies and tourism is a contributor, so I’m keen for tourism to resume when it can, but only when it’s safe to do so.

The challenges we face now is whether travel will re-open in 2021 or whether we have to wait until 2022, when hopefully free, un-restricted travel will be once again possible.

I like a mix of holidays, my family break plus some mini-breaks. 36h somewhere new can be exciting exploring new places you’ve never been to. In 2020 I booked a variety of short breaks optimistically ior 2021, so far these have all been cancelled. My challenges have been with flights changes and cancelations, the destination no longer accepting UK entries, various covid entry and exit requirements and the UK law on non-essential travel. I was perhaps too optimistic !

If countries require a 14-day quarantine, then travel just isn’t going to be possible. Even a 5 day quarantine will limit most of us. I guess they’ll always be some hotels who’ll attract customers who are happy to quarantine with other guests and be confined somewhere warm, but that wont be me.

For me, the £150 pp covid test on departure, then finding another to return and quarantine has completely cancelled any short break. Longer breaks this is now part of the requirements for the time being.

Hopefully the world wide vaccines will reduce infections and deaths and get things under control. Whether thats possible by July and for all the world to agree to relax their entry requirements is a bit IF. I hope the world leaders will find a way for tourism to resume this year.

If countries don’t open their borders, and do not lift arrival quarantine restrictions then holidays will be unlikely to go ahead. I don’t have any intention to fly across the world to stay in a hotel for 2 weeks in order to then fly home, I might as well stay at home.

I hope by June/July things will be more in control, and I hope tourism will find a way back.