Travel Agents Express Hope For Europe Rebound In '17
by Donna Tunney /
Even as suppliers are launching incentives and discounts for clients, travel retailers are hopeful but mostly cautious when it comes to predicting their volume of business to Europe in 2017.
“It will be directly due to the level of terrorism that happens between now and January,” says Anthony Hamawy, president of Cruise.com. “If nothing happens, it could be a shining star for cruise lines that still have capacity there. But will things stabilize? Who knows?”
Terror attacks in France, Belgium and Turkey dramatically affected international arrivals not only of Americans but other nationalities, too. As the BBC recently reported, international bookings in Turkey now through December are down 52% compared to the same time frame last year.
In France, bookings are down close to 20%. These statistics were gleaned from research by Forward Keys, a firm that analyzes flight reservation data. But its research also shows that many travelers are simply choosing alternative vacation destinations like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Iceland.
Deals abound
Suppliers across the industry are unveiling incentives and perks designed to get customer deposits on the books for next year.
Escorted tour company Insight Vacations, in its just-released 2017 Europe Preview program, is offering guaranteed 2016 pricing on 2017 journeys. Through late September it sweetens the deal with a buy-one-get-one-free air fare offer and cuts 5% off of its rates for returning customers.
Globus is going with an across-the-board discount of 10% on the land portion of 2017 Europe vacation, and luxury river line Emerald Waterways rolled out a free air fare offer on Europe cruises of 15 days or longer, while shorter itineraries qualify for air fare of $495 from certain cities.
AmaWaterways introduced a roundtrip Europe air deal for $299 per person on select river sailings next year, and Crystal Cruises also has a new Europe promotion – Crystal Sky Savings. It's offering roundtrip business class air fare for $999 per person on Crystal Symphony ocean sailings throughout Western and Northern Europe and the British Isles, and on Crystal Mozart river cruises sailing roundtrip from Vienna on the Danube River.
Safety is key
“The market has weathered a few challenges this year, which we experienced in a few European areas,” says Insight president Phil Cappelli.
“Given the news headlines these days – which we all understand are hugely disproportionate – I fully appreciate that some potential travelers might feel uncertain about traveling abroad,” adds Cappelli.
He recommends that agents reassure their clients that their safety is Insight's “utmost priority.” This is a refrain echoed by virtually all travel suppliers in recent years, as terror attacks increased in frequency and scope.
“We work passionately behind the scenes, 24 hours a day, to ensure our guests can confidently enjoy their tour. In the rare event of a circumstance requiring attention, no matter the scale, we will keep them fully informed and agents can be confident that we are with their clients all the way, taking care of all the details and making certain they feel at ease,” says Cappelli.
The executive says that “the majority of our product exceeded expectations” and he's very optimistic about the upcoming season. “Ireland, Italy and Iceland were quite popular for 2016 and early bookings continue to be strong for 2017,” he says
Europe is Insight's strongest product, Cappelli notes. “Italy, Spain and Portugal are poised to be high-grossing this year and we’re offering a variety of new experiences, departures, and journeys to entice travelers to embark on their bucket list European vacation.”
Agents hopeful
Agent Michelle Hough, owner of Commonwealth Travel, in Falmouth, Mass., says 2017 is shaping up well at her agency.
“I have quite a few river cruises booked. I have trips to Paris and London, and some to Italy,” she says, adding, “I've seen no sense of hesitancy or complaints from clients” about going abroad to Europe.
But Nicole Gilbert, a Vacation.com retailer in Ringwood, N.J., says she has no Europe bookings yet for next year. “My clients tend to visit in the summer, and that's still kind of far off,” she says. But the retailer is hopeful.
Colleen Gillette, owner of New Paltz Travel, a Travelsavers agency in New Paltz, N.Y., says Europe bookings have “been a little slow” but she's expecting improvement. “I do have some interesting things in the works – northern lights packages in early 2017, Spain, the Baltics,” she adds.
Cruise.com's Hamawy says that his company is “seeing some good early business for Europe in general.”
“The average cabin price is down, so obviously the cruise lines are pricing a little bit more competitively for Europe. But [the situation] is definitely a concern for the lines,” he says.
Closer to home
A few cruise lines have announced redeployments of ships away from Europe next year. Celebrity Cruises is moving its Equinox to the Caribbean and Holland America Line is sending its Oosterdam to Alaska, for example.
HAL will still have five ships in Europe next year, versus six in 2016, but plans to take full advantage of the growing demand for Alaska.
The addition brings the number of its ships to seven in the region. A spokesman for the line says the decision was based on the popularity of Alaska cruises.
Hamawy agrees that it appears Alaska will be a gang-buster cruise destination in 2017. “Business looks strong and prices are up, so that's looking good early on.”