Longer security checkpoint lines. Crowded spaces. Delayed and canceled flights. These are just some of the things that make traveling during the holiday season unpleasant.
And now that the coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted the travel industry with fewer people catching flights, a new study suggests that travelers should embrace for a busier-than-normal holiday season.
According to Guesty, a global, short-term rental property management platform, bookings for Thanksgiving are already up by 38 percent. Reservations for the winter holiday have soared to 40 percent.
Experts attribute the spike to pent up frustration from mandatory stay-at-home orders during the spring and summer.
“This could be one of the biggest years for holiday travel ever,” Omer Rabin, a managing director at Guesty told The NY Post. “We know people are saving up their vacation days now and starting to book travel for later in the year.”
Rabin added, “our data is showing an uptick in domestic travel bookings rather than international, which is no surprise considering the limited flight paths we are seeing at the moment.”
Meanwhile, the luxury travel agency network Virtuoso revealed to The NY Post an increase among its clients that are willing to travel internationally.
The top destinations, according to Virtuoso:
- Grand Cayman
- Dubai
- Saint Martin (Virtuoso believes this is actually St. Barths, it’s just the commercial flight path ends in Saint Martin)
- Tanzania
- Los Angeles
- Maui, Hawaii
- Nairobi, Kenya
- Montego Bay, Jamaica
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico