The Caribbean, villa vacations and multigenerational trips are topping the list of Thanksgiving and Christmas choices for clients this year – but what really stands out this holiday season is that inventory is tight in many cases, and many travelers are willing to pay a premium for their holiday vacations, travel advisors say.
Navigating High Rates and Inventory Shortages
“I am currently working on a 21-guest, multigenerational vacation for Nov. 21-28 in the Dominican Republic,” said Sioux Empire Travel Owner Tyler Wharton. “They want the normal family stuff at an upscale all-inclusive resort. Sounds easy, right?”
Well, not exactly. “There is so much inventory that is sold out, especially for those bigger family rooms or connecting suites,” Wharton said. “I have a couple of options, but they aren’t my preferred choices or the top recommendations I gave them. On top of that, a family of six in two junior suites is running dang near 25-27K!”
“I am just surprised at how busy everything still is, especially over the holidays. But the pricing is gross,” he added.
Caribbean Destinations and Cruises Lead Bookings
Mark Hennigan is also witnessing an increase in pricing – along with clients' willingness to pay more.
“It’s insane to spend ‘x amount’ on a trip knowing the value of that trip is normally much lower, but hey, we are not complaining,” said Hennigan, senior travel advisor at Dreamers Travel, noting that his clients are primarily opting for Caribbean cruises and land vacations to destinations such as St. Lucia, Antigua and Aruba.
“We also are continuing to see clients booking and taking those bucket-list destinations and a huge increase in multi-generational traveling together,” Hendricks added.
For his part, Zenbiz Travel CEO Laurence Pinckney has primarily booked Caribbean cruises, some of which are multigenerational trips, but unlike other advisors, at considerably more reasonable rates.
“I expect some of my more financially conservative clients are waiting for the outcome of the midterm elections,” he said. “Many are quite nervous as to how the results will affect the geopolitical global climate and travel.”
Splurging on Holiday Vacations
Maria Shrewsbury, a travel advisor at Travelmation, said her clients with bigger budgets are splurging on their vacations when it comes to cost, “but the ones that typically have tighter vacation budgets are often the ones paying the biggest premium, because holiday travel is the one time they can get away guilt-free.”
“No one questions you for taking off Christmas week, so it’s worth it for them,” she added. “My job is helping them figure out where stretching actually pays off, because with inventory already tight this year, prices are higher and not every splurge is worth it.”
So, what’s Shrewsbury’s biggest seller this holiday season?
“Villas, hands down,” she said. “When my clients think about the upcoming holidays, they’re not picturing a packed itinerary – they’re picturing everyone under one roof, enjoying cozy nights in with board game pieces scattered across tables; the wine is flowing and there’s nowhere else to be.”
Villa vacations and house rentals are “having a moment because they solve the thing families actually want: togetherness without the craziness,” Shrewsbury said. “Bonus points if there’s a private chef and someone else doing the dishes. It’s less ‘let’s go see everything’ and more ‘let’s just be together in a beautiful place.’”
Investing in Memories Over Material Goods
For Shrewsbury, a surprise for the upcoming holiday season is how specific her clients have been about why they are traveling.
“What I’m hearing constantly now is, ‘I want to travel with my parents while we still can,’ ‘we aren’t getting any younger,’ and ‘we don’t need more stuff,” she said. “It’s not that the feeling is new, but this year, clients seem to be realizing it in real time, and saying it out loud.”
“They know that many gifts are headed straight for the junk drawer, while a week spent somewhere with the people they love is what they’ll still be talking about next year,” Shrewsbury added. “That’s the real shift I’m seeing – it’s less about what they’re buying and more about why they want to invest in travel.”
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