Over the last few weeks, I have been gazing into my crystal ball and looking at the future of travel. What will the next few months bring? What will 2021 bring? Will travel ever be the same? All questions that have been buried in the back of my brain and will continue to think about for weeks and months to come.
Gazing into my crystal ball, I thought it would be fun to talk about what the remaining months of 2020 look like, potential travel trends for 2021 and how you can plan to return to travel, when the time is right for you!
For the remainder of 2020, I have four active bookings and two trips of my own planned. A slow fall, but considering all that is going on in the world, I am okay with that. Three clients are traveling to the Caribbean and one client is traveling to Hawaii, all destinations that are currently open or will be opening in the next few weeks. For Mike and I, we will make our annual trip to Maine by plane in September and feel safe in boarding our planned flights. In November, we are booked on a four night cruise with Virgin Voyages. We were originally going to experience this brand new adult only cruise line in March, however COVID19 had other plans. We are hopeful that ships will be sailing in the Fall and excited to get on board to experience this new concept in cruising.
At the top of my list for 2021 will be a surge in travel within the United States. I can envision the family road trip to National Parks, theme parks and many other family friendly locations throughout the country. Thinking about a trip to one of the nations National Parks in 2021? Start planning now! National Parks open up hotel and lodge reservations one year prior to travel and many sell out in advance, especially during the summer months. I love working with couples and families to plan National Parks vacations!
If Alaska is on your bucket list and experiencing the great state by cruise ship is a must, then you need to book now for 2021. With the entire Alaska 2020 cruise season cancelled due to COVID19, many clients shifted their dates to 2021 cruises. Peak season in Alaska is June - August, however if your dates are flexible you can often find a better price point at the beginning of the season in mid-May or at the end of the season in early September.
If a theme park vacation is at the top of your list for 2021, start planning now. Just this past week, Disney opened reservations for 2021 packages. Disney will begin re-opening on July 11th and while the experience may be quite different for awhile, I am hopeful that 2021 will bring back character experiences, parades and fireworks.
Looking for a winter getaway either by land or sea, now is the time to plan! Just this week, I booked clients to travel to Mexico in February and I thought prices were quite reasonable for that time of year. Booking six months or more in advance offers the best availability for resorts and cruise ships.
Returning to Europe, while uncertain at this time, will hopefully happen in early 2021. The European Union is deciding when travelers from the US will be allowed to travel abroad. I fully support their cautiousness in allowing tourists to return and the potential of a surge in COVID19 if it is done to soon. I am optimistic that our group trip that is scheduled for May 2021 will travel as planned and excited to finally enjoy the Rhine River cruise with our travelers. Shameless plug...there is still space available on this ship and we would love to have you join us!
A word about travel protection....what I learned from COVID19, is that standard policies don't cover a global pandemic. Travel protection companies have been great in allowing clients the opportunity to turn their existing policies into future use vouchers. This allowed many of my clients to use their policies for future trips. Moving forward, I will provide clients the opportunity to upgrade to a cancel for any reason policy which will offer a refund of 75% - 100% depending on the policy guidelines, minus the cost of the travel protection.
So if you are ready to discuss plans for 2021, reach out by phone or email to start the conversation. Having a plan in place, will give you something to look forward to over the next few months.
Until next time!
Courtney
Photo courtesy of Google images.