By: Michelle Baran
March 05, 2010
Tour operators are seeing customers book more international trips for 2010, indicating that U.S. travelers are starting to invest more in their vacations again and are feeling secure enough in their jobs to leave the office for longer.
"Travel is the ultimate barometer of consumer confidence," said Steve Born, vice president of marketing for the Globus Family of Brands, which among several operators has seen long-haul international business returning after a year when close-to-home travel — or little to no travel — was often favored over pricier trips.
Bookings for Europe, a high-volume destination for most operators, reflect a sizeable increase in demand across the board.
"Europe is up more than 50%," said Richard Launder, president of TravCorp USA, the parent of several brands, including Trafalgar, Insight and Brendan Vacations. "That gets us back to 2008 levels and over. So in a sense, we’ve come back."
Complete article: http://www.travelweekly.com/article3.aspx?id=211122
