Travel Industry Begins to Rebound 9-4-2007
The past several years have seen dramatic changes in the travel industry. The major airlines are recovering reasonably well from the staggering losses incurred in the early years after 9/11, either through the elimination of debt and high costs via bankruptcy, or through capable management and sharp cost cutting. In the global travel and tourism business, threats of terrorism continue to cause the travel industry to evolve. Ecotourism and adventure tourism are booming. Spas are the hottest thing in fine hotels. Affluent retirees from the U.S., Canada and Japan are traveling more and more, while tourists from Europe and Asia are flocking to U.S. cities to take advantage of bargain prices due to the relatively low value of the U.S. dollar. Today's outlook for the travel industry is one of innovation, high occupancy rates, healthy competition and, outside of the legacy airlines, returning profits. According to a recent report by Plunkett Research, Ltd., some other exciting trends include:
- Open Skies Agreement Lowers Restrictions on Trans-Atlantic Travel. A landmark transportation agreement was signed in April 2007 between the U.S. and the 27 member states of the EU which replaced existing restrictions on flights between the two regions. With the new agreement, referred to as "open skies," every U.S. and EU carrier is authorized to fly between any city in those regions.
- Hotels Are Adding Rooms, Upgrading Amenities While Recording Record Profits. The recent boom in business and leisure travel has created widespread demand for hotel rooms, and hoteliers are happily accommodating the need.
- Cruise Industry Bookings are Strong, Including Berths on Luxury Liners. Thanks to an upswing in leisure travel, the cruise business is witnessing healthier profits and increased bookings. To capture even greater profits, cruise lines are forming their own excursion tour operations, rather than leaving this business to third parties.
To find out more about these exciting trends and others, check out Plunkett's Airline, Hotel & Travel Industry Almanac 2008, or go to www.plunkettresearch.com and sign up for a subscription to Plunkett's completely up-to-date online database!
About Plunkett Research, Ltd.
Plunkett Research, Ltd. is a leading publisher of complete business research and analysis resources, designed to enable professionals in marketing, research and finance to access complete trends analysis, statistics, technology analysis and financial analysis of the world's most exciting industries. For more information, visit www.plunkettresearch.com, or call 713.932.0000.