Industry leaders remain optimistic for travel in 2023, despite prevailing headwinds, delegates at The Travel Convention Travel Weekly Business Breakfast were told.
Barrhead Travel president Jacqueline Dobson said she remained “very optimistic” as a holiday is the “very last commodity for a consumer to let go of”.
Royal Caribbean vice president EMEA for Royal Caribbean said he was optimistic because the all inclusive nature of cruise would appeal to consumers trying to budget.
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“We’ve got a great value proposition in the cruise sector,” he said.
But he added: “We’re just working out what the booking curve is going to do. A lot of Europe is still booking late for 2022.
“That’s a little unusual. Normally we would be seeing more booking for 2023 and we would leave 2022 behind for the US to sweep up so we could focus on the next year.”
Intrepid Travel managing director EMEA Zina Bencheikh pointed out that the industry had already survived the covid crisis.
“Nothing can be worse for the travel industry than a global pandemic – except maybe nuclear war in Russia,” she said.
She said that destinations had come back as restrictions had lifted, listing bookings to America, Iceland, Europe and the Middle East as being strong, but Australia and South East Asia, with the exception of Vietnam, lagging.
But consumers switching away from more “value” destinations was having a positive impact on price with average booking values increasing.
And Bencheikh added: “There will be a shift for a little while until the world reopens properly.”
Former Der Touristik chief executive Derek Jones added: “We should be optimistic. Some companies have failed over the last two years but some have thrived. Those that have handled customers well will prosper. Those brands have done a great job in creating even deeper connections with their customers and will reap the benefits.”
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Pictures: Arif Gardner