Year in Review: The Biggest Travel Stories of 2022

Despite a rough start to 2022 with the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant, the travel and tourism industries started to bounce back in a major way as restrictions were lifted and leisure travel demand surged. From the cruise industry finally having COVID-related requirements lifted by the United States government to airlines finally meeting demand after dealing with massive delays and cancellations, this year was as wild as it was unpredictable. Add in an ongoing war and several hurricanes impacting the U.S. and Caribbean, and the travel industry overcame plenty of adversity to make a major comeback over the last year. Here are the top stories from 2022.

The Global Rescue Fall 2022 Traveler Safety and Sentiment Survey released in November revealed that COVID is actually far from our greatest concern when considering traveling internationally. Participants' anxieties about the virus dropped dramatically by 39 percent since the last poll in August 2022, diminishing to 20 percent, as compared to 33 percent at the end of summer.

Of the respondents, 33 percent identified their biggest trip-related fear would be suffering some sort of injury or non-COVID illness while abroad. This worry was trailed by concerns over possible trip cancellation (13 percent), civil unrest (11 percent), being robbed (five percent), natural disasters (three percent) and nuclear attack (less than one percent).

Top industry suppliers, destinations, hotels, cruise lines, airlines, tour operators and more from all over the world were honored at the 2022 Travvy Awards in November. A plethora of industry-leading brands took home the coveted gold, silver and bronze hardware at the ceremony held inside the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina in South Florida. Here is a complete breakdown of every winner in 2022.

A federal judge in Florida ruled in April against the federal mandate requiring facial coverings on all forms of public transportation, including on airplanes and in airports. United States District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa voided the mask mandate, saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) "improperly failed to justify its decision and did not follow proper rulemaking."

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in December it would delay the implementation of the REAL ID rules until May 2025. Officials previously announced the improved identification cards needed to board commercial planes or enter federal buildings would be required beginning on May 2, 2023, but the date has now been moved back by another two years, to May 7, 2025.

As a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine, Delta Air Lines suspended its codeshare agreement with Russian national carrier Aeroflot. The United Kingdom also banned its commercial airlines from Russian airspace and, as expected, Russia retaliated by banning British carriers. Data shows the expectation for 2023 is global tourism recovery slowing as demand softens due to an economic downturn, the ongoing energy crisis in Europe and the war in Ukraine. Recovery to pre-pandemic levels is delayed until 2025 in terms of sectoral revenues.

Following the invasion, members of the American Hotels and Lodging Association donated or pledged to donate money, room nights and more to aid those who fled Ukraine.

Hyatt announced it was terminating its contracts with Russian hotels following the invasion of Ukraine; several other hotel corporations have done so, too, in support of the Ukrainian people and new global sanctions against Russia.

Several major airlines serving Florida and the Caribbean were impacted by this year's hurricane season. Named storms-including Ian, Fiona and Nicole-battered the region and caused delays and cancellations across the industry. The cruise industry was also impacted by the storms, as cruise lines serving Florida and the Caribbean faced delays and cancellations at key homeports and destinations. Local communities worked relentlessly to bounce back and the tourism industry is thriving again in impacted areas, including Puerto Rico.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially ended its COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships in July. The "voluntary" program replaced the CDC's previous Conditional Sailing Order in February. Cruise lines operating in U.S. waters were compelled to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships' guidance to prove they were upholding best practices for the mitigation aboard their vessels.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that its agents screened 8.76 million travelers during Labor Day weekend, exceeding 2019 passenger screening volumes for the first time over a holiday weekend. The 8.76 million fliers represented 102 percent of the volume compared to the same pre-pandemic holiday weekend in 2019. In December, the TSA announced travel volumes at airports across the United States are expected to be close to pre-pandemic levels.

With restrictions being lifted for the cruise industry, a study from July found demand was rebounding. Of the respondents who had previously taken a cruise, 91.4 percent reported they plan to take a voyage within the next year, 2.5 percent would not cruise in the next year and 6.1 percent were undecided.

Taking information from hotel giants Hilton, IHG and Wyndham, this feature, published in October, details just how the third quarter of the year made a big impact on the industry's recovery. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA)'s 2022 Midyear State of the Hotel Industry Report, hotel room revenue is projected to surpass $188 billion by the end of 2022, eclipsing 2019 figures on a nominal basis.

When adjusted for inflation, revenue per available room (RevPAR) is expected to reach 2019 levels in 2025. Hotels are projected to generate nearly $43.9 billion in state and local tax revenues this year, up almost seven percent from pre-pandemic totals.

Amtrak revealed the first renderings of its newest trains, the Amtrak Airo series, which are scheduled to debut in 2026 on routes throughout the United States. The Amtrak Airo will operate on several major routes, including the Northeast Regional, Empire Service, Virginia Services, Keystone Service, Downeaster, Cascades, Maple Leaf, New Haven/Springfield Service, Palmetto, Carolinian, Pennsylvanian, Vermonter, Ethan Allen Express and Adirondack.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (CPI) said airfares climbed by 42.9 percent due to airlines cutting down on flight schedules and rising fuel costs. The CPI found that prices climbed 8.2 percent over the past 12 months and 0.4 percent in September, with the limited number of seats driving up airfares. The increase in prices and the return of travel demand are helping the carriers gradually return to profitability.

Data showed that prices would remain higher than normal heading into the Thanksgiving and winter holiday travel periods, with Christmas airfares up 55 percent from 2021 and 19 percent higher than 2019.

In October, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) corroborated a major travel industry issue, serious staffing shortages. Data showed that 97 percent of respondents were experiencing staffing shortages, with "49 percent severely so," and 58 percent "ranking housekeeping as their biggest challenge." To help remedy the issue, hotels offered job candidates a variety of incentives, with 81 percent of respondents increasing wages, 64 percent providing more flexible working hours and 35 percent increasing benefits.

A study from the Regional Airline Association (RAA) found that 76 percent of U.S. airports have been impacted by the pilot shortage, with more than 500 regional aircraft parked and an "associated air service retraction at 324 communities."

RAA CEO Faye Malarkey Black said, "14 airports have lost all scheduled commercial air service - a number that is still rising." In total, U.S. domestic air operations declined by 18.4 percent from October 2019 to October 2022.

Data from an October report showed that worldwide travel and tourism revenues are forecast to reach $716.8 billion this year, reflecting an impressive 45-percent increase over the figures for 2021, which reached only $491.5 billion. The sector's revenue increases are expected to continue in 2023 despite the ongoing threats of inflation, with earnings growing by another 20 percent year over year to a worldwide total of $852 billion.

The UNWTO World Tourism Barometer also revealed that, during the first seven months of 2022, international tourist arrivals nearly tripled over the same period in 2021, reaching 57 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

Airlines and airports were dealing with higher gas prices, surging demand and a lack of employees in 2022, all of which led to major delay and cancellation issues during the busiest times of the year, starting with Spring Break. The summer didn't get much better, as data showed U.S. airlines canceled over 100,000 this year by July 17, with 30,000 of those coming between then and Memorial Day weekend. The issues were so bad that Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian apologized for the summer travel disruptions and promised to work towards returning a sense of normalcy to the flight process. To prepare for the hectic winter holiday travel season, airlines scaled back flight schedules, increased staffing levels and learned from past mistakes.

Walt Disney World Resort's hotels opened and character greetings began this April for the first time in two years; a big step for the world-famous attraction as it continued reopening following the pandemic. Disney officials reported that operating income increased by more than 66 percent and reached $1.5 billion for the theme park division, which was more than double the total earned during the same period in 2021.

Data showed that higher prices and new technology helped increase per-person spending by around 40 percent since 2019, due in part to the introduction of the Genie+ and Lightning Lane guest experiences.

In January, Crystal Cruises suspended its operations after reports that its parent company, Genting Hong Kong, ran out of cash. In July, A&K Travel Group, Ltd. announced that it officially purchased the assets required to restart the operations of the former Crystal Cruises. A&K Travel Group CEO Cristina Levis said the company is "committed to recreating the most luxurious, award-winning cruise brand," and planned to complete significant refurbishments on the Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity ships.

New data from the United States government found that air travel service complaints dropped 15.6 percent from August to September, but the overall numbers remained 380 percent above pre-pandemic levels in September 2019. The Department of Transportation received 6,115 complaints about airline service from consumers in September, down 15.6 percent from the 7,243 complaints received in August and up 386.1 percent from the 1,258 complaints received in pre-pandemic September 2019.

JetBlue Airways announced it would purchase Spirit Airlines in July, a deal announced less than 14 hours after Spirit shareholders rejected a merger deal with Frontier Airlines. JetBlue had been trying to acquire Spirit since April, just six weeks after Spirit announced an agreement in principle to merge with Frontier in what eventually became a five-month battle among the three airlines.

The United States Department of Justice said the partnership between American Airlines and JetBlue Airways would "harm travelers" during the closing arguments of the case against the Northeast Alliance. The Justice Department joined forces with six states and the District of Columbia to claim that the carriers coordinating flights and pooling revenue would be a de facto merger and add nearly $700 million in extra annual costs to travelers.

American lawyer Daniel Wall said the alliance has made the markets served by the carriers "more competitive than they otherwise were." He also said consumers or the Justice Department could file another lawsuit later if the partnership were proven anti-competitive.

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