Article by James Shillinglaw in Travelmarket Report presents numbers from a new survey of US travel agents.
Big ideas:
- Weak GBP following UK Brexit vote is helping make London the #1 international destination for Americans this fall.
- Bookings for Europe are up YOY despite terrorist attacks; Rome, Paris, Florence-Tuscany are all in top 10 international destinations.
- List of top international destinations
- List of top domestic destinations
Some specifics:
- Maui is the #1 domestic destination for the first time; absence of locally-transmitted cases of Zika virus probably a factor.
- 45% of respondents said strength of the USD vs. GBP contributed to clients' interest in UK.
- 74.8% of agents said their Europe bookings for fall 2016 were at or above 2015 levels.
- 82.5% of agents booking luxury travel to Europe reported bookings at or above 2015 levels.
- 13.5% of agents reported that clients are putting off planning a trip to Europe. Top 3 reasons:
- Terror threats
- Political uncertainty (Brexit, upcoming European elections)
- Opting for domestic destinations
It's certainly a no-brainer that the UK is on sale for Americans this fall. And it's good to see that travel to Europe by Americans is holding up in the face of terrorist attacks and political uncertainty. It's unfortunate that the Zika virus is causing some people to avoid Florida destinations - that's a big reason Maui is #1 - but I think it's understandable.
