With one month left in the first quarter of 2010, Sceptre Tours, the largest tour operator to Ireland (in terms of passengers moved), has released its finding on how the travel landscape to Europe is already beginning to change.
According to Chris Accomando, Sceptre's president, travel agents can expect to see a 15 to 20 percent increase in air prices due to the reduced capacity by the airlines.
Additional demand to Europe will no doubt be encouraged by the continuing the value of the euro against the dollar (currently at 1.38), since this is a major factor impacting the cost of meals or excursions while clients are on vacation. With the dollar gaining strength and the cost of products in Europe coming down, this gives vacationers greater savings.
With a modest increase in travel demand so far this year, discounting is still happening, but the discounts are not as deep as last year. There are still some great buying opportunities out there, but the hotels and airlines are not going to give it away as they did in 2009.
The average spend per client is on the rise this year. Travelers are including more excursions or upgrading to a slightly better hotel or car. Sceptre's sales of Business Class air has increased 1,000 percent over 2009.
Finally, Ireland has seen quite a dramatic increase as a location for a destination wedding. Even with the euro-dollar exchange, many castles and manor house hotels are offering good rates on weddings from as few as 10 to as many as 200 people.
