Why Travel Today Is Better Than Ever

Editorial by Sheri Leigh, Publisher

It’s hard to believe that now is the best time to travel, but it is. Airlines are more secure and more comfortable, prices everywhere have dropped, waiting lines are shorter and usually crowded places are virtually empty. Security everywhere has been heightened and, truth be told, we are safer exploring the world beyond our borders than we are driving on our local highways. (The chances of being involved in a car accident within five miles of our home are astronomically higher than being involved in a terrorist attack.)

Why, then, don’t more of us take advantage of this fantastic opportunity? Why are so many of us still at home waiting, putting off living our lives and worrying about what might happen next? Three events conditioned us to be wary: First, the economy went into a slump in 2000 and we put off travel for economic reasons. Then September 11, 2001 halted all travel plans. Now war with Iraq has us glued to the television waiting for liberation, not just for the Iraqi people, but for us, the traveling public, as well.

We think that liberation may be at hand. Our web site tells us that while travelers have been waiting, they’ve been planning, as well. For the last couple of months, Cultural Travels has been growing faster than any other time in our three-year history. More travelers are requesting information from our tour hosts and the number of visits to our advertisers’ sites has grown over 40% from last month alone.

While travel is down from what was predicted for the 2002 and 2003 seasons before September 11, an end to the uncertainty of “Will we or won’t we go to war?” has people again looking to the future. The belief that the Iraqi war will be short and decisive has many travelers reviewing travel options. Patterns indicate that there is a renewed interest in planning trips that have been put on hold over the last two years.

We are confident that, come summer, you’ll see a spike in travel and the beginning of a recovery in this beleaguered sector.

Travelers have a great window of opportunity. Now is the time to take advantage of rates that are lower than they have been for years without the need to sacrifice quality. During the next few months to a year, our travel dollars will go farther and allow us to take trips or stay at hotels that were previously out of our budget range. But it won’t last forever. With more than two years of pent-up travel demand, the limited inventory currently available will be rapidly taken - today’s bargains won’t be around for long.

The tour companies who were able to withstand the challenges of the last few years are the best of the best, and over the next few years they will see their sales explode. They survived by being well managed, providing excellent service, and by scaling back operations. With fewer departures available and an increase in demand, their scarce inventory will be quickly filled. Since it will take a couple of years before supply and demand are once again on par, travelers who wait until next year to make their plans will miss out on today’s bargains and may expect to pay a premium.

For good or bad this turnaround is not likely to save the major airlines. Their troubles began years ago with mismanagement followed by the poor marketing decision of alienating their main distribution source, travel agents. But it will be great for new, smaller airlines that offer value to their clients and treat them as human beings rather than cattle.

Expect an equalization of airline rates over the next few years as both the rock-bottom advance purchase fares and the sky-high last-minute business fares are dropped in favor of reasonable fares and service across the board.

What does this mean for you? It means, now is the time to take action.

If you’ve been putting off making plans until it’s safe or the economy turns around, you should know that both have already happened. It might be difficult to believe, but we’ve already hit the bottom and are rebounding. The opportunities available today – travel without the hassles of crowds or lines, and the lowest prices in years – are a blip on the screen of normalcy, just like the Internet bubble was. Reality will reign once again soon enough. We will not see today’s opportunities again for years to come, if ever.

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