By Eric Hrubant
I received an email recently from one of our corporate travel clients: “I’ve been looking at airfares for different locations… Is it my imagination or does everything seem outrageously priced right now? If so, do you think this is just a trend or it will be like this for a while?”
Here’s what I told them and what I’ll share with all of you: After 9/11 and the 2008/2009 financial crisis, there was a LOT of distressed inventory so everyone got spoiled by low prices. With Covid, it’s completely different. Airlines, hotels, car rentals, et cetera, went from being at full capacity to completely empty overnight. And now, travel is coming back, for both luxury vacations and business travel. A recent survey conducted by the Global Business Travel Association showed that 40% of respondents said their company has already resumed nonessential domestic business travel. What does that mean for you? Demand is extremely high so airlines and hotels don’t need to keep prices low. Also, the travel and hospitality industries still have people on furlough. And let’s not forget about the staffing shortages in some parts of the country. It’s the polar opposite of distressed inventory. Unless you want to visit a big city like NYC, Chicago or San Francisco, prices are going to be high because of extremely high and pent-up demand.
My prediction: The high prices will last for the next several years as demand far outweighs supply. A professional travel advisor can definitely help with expert insight, advice and connections. We are here to help!
In addition to corporate travel, meetings and group travel were also dramatically affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. But what’s the outlook now? And what should you expect as business travel returns? Travel Weekly, one of our industry’s leading trade publications, reached out to me to get my take on the past, present and future of corporate “bleisure” travel.
Read the full article HERE.
CIRE Travel is a full-service travel agency headquartered in New York, NY. Our expert team supports clients across the country and around the world.
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