Most travel sellers will agree a deep freeze gets their clients thinking about beach vacations, but Travel Market Report wanted to know if climbing temperatures get clients thinking about cooling off further afield. So we approached several agents in the heart of the East Coast’s heat wave to see what they’re booking.
None of the travel sellers TMR spoke with said they’re selling cold weather vacations. In fact, one agent said the heat actually gets clients thinking about nice beach vacations.
“Even with the heat people want to escape to the beach,” said Darlene Fisher of Maryland-based Fare Deals. “The public is looking for nice vacation escapes even with the heat… Caribbean destinations are very popular, as well as Mexico and Florida.”
On the other hand, some, especially those located near beaches, reported that their clients like to stay home during the warm weather, but their fall and winter bookings are up.
“Believe it or not people now are getting their school schedules and booking their winter trips,” said Claudette D’Arrigo, manager of Two Rivers Travel, located on the Jersey shore. “Summer, in general is very slow down here... most of my clients are beach lovers.”
“Many of my clients live on the water here on Long Island and wait all year to get their boats in the water,” Lois Howes, of Long Island, NY-based Superior Travel, told Travel Market Report.
However, her clients are booking fall and winter vacations. “They are mostly booking cruises and Europe. The fall of the euro vs. the dollar has helped with that. I am also working on a few Caribbean packages for this coming winter,” she said.
Bill Page, president of Delaware-based ALL ABOARD CRUISES & Travel also said he hasn’t received any requests about getting away from the heat. “But maybe there is an indirect positive effect because so far July is turning into my best month of the year, which is not typical… maybe, the heat has people staying in, which turns into sales.”
Page also said the question of whether hot weather leads to bookings raises another question, “Maybe we should be marketing Alaska cruises?”