There is great pressure on charter travel ahead of the 2021-22 winter season, report tour operators Ving and Tui.
”"Positive vaccine signals and the fact that many people have had their vacations canceled mean that there is an enormous desire to travel," says Fredrik Henriksson, communications manager for Vinggruppen in the Nordics.
Closed countries and travel restrictions in the wake of the corona pandemic have led to a historically lousy year for the travel and tourism industry - but perhaps a brightening up ahead of next year's winter season may now be in sight.
After Vingresor released its catalog for the 2021-22 winter season last week, the tour operator can report a nearly doubling of the number of bookings compared to the same period in 2019.
Tui also reports that it sold 50 percent more trips for the 2021-22 winter season last week than it did during the same week last year. And Adam Györki, the company's head of communications, agrees that confidence in the future among travelers seems to be increasing.
”"In general, we have seen increased optimism among Swedes about the future. Many more people are visiting our site – and actual bookings are also increasing," he says.
Adam Györki also mentions recent weeks' news on the vaccine front as a possible reason for the increase in the number of bookings.
”"The number of bookings for the upcoming summer is still lower than in a normal year, but we are now seeing them increase quite dramatically from week to week. And we saw that after the news that a vaccine is coming soon – which is obviously triggering people to book trips abroad."”
During the Christmas holidays, the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands is usually a classic destination for Swedish charter travelers, but this year the situation looks different, for easily explained reasons, according to Fredrik Henriksson at Ving.
”"Right now, there are clearly lower volumes in terms of both the winter trips we have had and those we have planned, but if we look at our Christmas departures, they are fully booked. But the volumes are still only 25 percent of the usual ones."”
Adam Györki from Tui also agrees with the situation ahead of the Christmas holidays.
”"I think we should be honest and say that this year's Christmas cannot be compared to a normal year. We are in the middle of a pandemic, where nothing is as usual. The flights we have – and the hotels that are open – are fully booked, but there are very few departures compared to a normal year."”
Source: TT
