MAIN Beach Travel (pictured) is dealing with more forward bookings than pre-pandemic, with clients looking at longer voyages than before.
The travel agency recently contributed four 2024 Regent Seven Seas Cruises World Cruise bookings – an itinerary which sold out in less than three hours earlier this month (CW 12 Jul).
Director Mandy Dwyer told Cruise Weekly those who have not been able to spend any money on travel over the past 18 months are now looking to release their accumulation of disposable income.
“They haven’t spent any money so they’re prepared to spend more, go for an upgrade or longer cruising,” Dwyer said.
“We’ve been very fortunate to pick up some great around-the-world bookings…in the past you might pick up one per year, but we’ve been fortunate.
“We had quite a few other enquiries, some didn’t come to fruition, but some went on another cruise line around-the-world, so it’s definitely positive for the future.”
Dwyer also noted different kinds of trends now emerging as the end of the pandemic nears, such as the utilisation of credits.
“[Travellers] are upgrading to better cabins…they haven’t been anywhere for two years, so instead of a three-week European cruise they’re going to do a grand voyage, or from a grand voyage to around-the-world,” she said.
Although booking trends have changed throughout the pandemic, Dwyer believes a larger European cruise, combined with a river cruise or a land tour, will still prove most popular.
