Grab your group and go.
Group travel has withstood the effects of a two-year interruption as well as any segment of the industry. Europe has reopened to vaccinated travelers, and the United States recently reopened its borders to vaccinated travelers from abroad as well.
Anticipating those developments, we undertook a national research project with our partners at Bandwagon, a major tourism research and public relations firm, to try and set the benchmarks for group travel as it returned. I’d like to share a few findings with the readers of Select Traveler magazine.
• Despite the effects of COVID-19, the average respondent will plan 20 trips this year.
• The largest age demographic in group travel remains those 60 and above, but 32% of all group travelers have not yet turned 60. The future is as bright as ever.
• Although the motorcoach remains the key means of travel generally, 31% of all planners’ trips in 2021 included flights. This speaks to the global reach of group travel.
• Lead time for marketing a trip has decreased in 2021 to about 200 days. Technology and social media will continue to shorten the time required to fill a trip.
• The most popular marketing method for planners remains word-of-mouth. For groups especially, the ability to sell a trip through relationships has never been greater.
Share the good news with your travelers, and we’ll see you in March at the Select Traveler Conference.
