Michelle Baran
Tour operators have started off 2011 with some aggressive promotions intended to incent agents and their clients to book their vacations before airfares become prohibitively expensive.
"It's a game of now or never for the agents to get the volume," said Paul Wiseman, president of Trafalgar Tours. "If people wait too long they're going to be priced out of the market. We have a perfect storm of low capacity combined with high demand. And the airlines are not going to increase their capacity.
"European air will be at record high levels by March."
Trafalgar started off 2011 with a promotion that offers $1000 in savings per couple on air-inclusive packages with British Airways flights, or $800 in savings per couple on all other air-inclusive packages, good for bookings made through Feb. 28.
"We had to come up with a very substantial promotion just to bring the fares down to a level that more people can afford," said Wiseman, adding that since the promotion launched on Jan. 1, Trafalgar has reported about 1,000 bookings per day, a 20% increase compared to this time last year.
"But the promotion will run out of steam," he added. "There's only so many seats we have, and we are subsidizing the thing heavily."
Other operators are also using aggressive deals to encourage agents to urge clients to book early.
Collette Vacations is offering companion airfare of $399 on seven of its European tours for new bookings made through March 31 for travel on specific departure dates.
"Airfare offers are working to help agents get customers to book early," said Frank Marini, vice president of sales for Collette. "As there is less inventory for flights and rates are higher, travel agents see the need to lock in the best air price and schedule, and they are definitely communicating this to their customers."
The Globus brand rung in the new year with an offer of 10% off per person on the land portion of a 2011 air-inclusive Europe vacation when booked and paid in full by March 1, for travel between May 1 and December 31.
The deal appears to be working. Globus was up 62% in bookings for the first week of 2011, compared to the same time in 2010. Europe was up 43%, and phone volume was up 27%.
"We can't provide any guarantees as to what happens to air prices as the season goes along," said Steve Born, vice president of marketing at Globus. "That's part of the instruction of our promotions. ... We've done our part to help agents give their clients a reason to book now. Once the airfare deposit is received, we lock in that air price."
Cautioned Born: "don't leave things to chance later on."