Travel advisors are reporting lackluster 2024 fall bookings – and for a variety of reasons.
“I think two wars, a steady increase of rates and a turbulent upcoming presidential election has many people spooked right now,” said JoAnne Weeks, vacation division manager at Acendas Travel.
“The majority of our clients are those with discretionary income, and those same individuals are the ones paying attention to what’s going on in our nation. Therefore, they’re hitting the ‘pause button.’”
Acendas Travel is witnessing a “steady interest in close-in bookings for fall, but overall, it’s been fairly quiet of late,” Weeks said.
“Right now, we are looking at really close neck-to-neck to our 2023 numbers. We knew we could not sustain ‘drinking from the fire hose’ forever,” she said. “We figured if we could keep the same pace as last year, that would be saying something.”
Ken Keefer, owner of CK Tours & Cruises, is also witnessing flat fall bookings. “The costs of everyday staples having outpaced inflation, combined with the dramatic increase in travel costs, have wiped out the lower mid-tier budget for international travel,” he said. “The good news is that the market’s top-tier is still solid.”
Fall is the agency season for independent European tours, “and we are having a great year with the bookings we made in the first six months of 2024,” Keefer said. “In the last two months, the new business flow has dropped dramatically. We will finish with a better year than 2023, but not by the percentage I was expecting in March.”
While he noted that fall bookings were slightly ahead of those during the same period in 2023, those sales were made in the first four months of 2024. “There has been a significant drop-off in new business for the end of the year, over our expectations. The weakness has shown in Q1 bookings as well,” he said.
Trails at Elk Lake Lodge, Adirondacks. (Photo Credit: Lauren Breedlove)
“Our fall bookings are lower than 2023 but a majority of that is due to a decrease in destination weddings,” said Kim Goldstein, president of Journeys Inc. “We’re seeing a steady increase of FIT bookings, which is definitely helping us close out the year in a more favorable place.”
For Time for Travel President Sarah Kline, “the year overall is averaging about the same but fall 2024 is down compared to fall 2023.”
“I think I think the early hurricane season also scared some away from the Caribbean and Mexico,” she said. “I’m hopeful that we’ll pick up some last-minute fall travel but our focus has really shifted to 2025 groups at this point.”
VIP Vacations President Jennifer Doncsecz said that much like last year the agency is witnessing a steady flow of fall requests but is “still booking packages for this summer – including big Europe trips too.”
“The hurricane a few weeks ago slowed down last-minute requests for the Caribbean but we are still pacing the same as last year,” she said. “
Going forward, Doncsecz is optimistic about both late fall and year-end bookings. “I think at the end of August, we will see a mad rush for November/December vacations once school calendars are out,” she said. “I believe that the election has people on edge, which could mean that after November the floodgates will open.”
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