Air ticket sales by U.S. travel agencies improved for the third straight week in late December when compared with figures from corresponding weeks in 2019, according to ARC.
The transaction count for the seven days that ended Dec. 27 was down 63.8% from a year earlier, an improvement from the 66.1% year-over-year dip in agency ticket transactions for the week ending Dec. 20.
Related report: ARC reports largest week to week drop in ticket sales since April
While still dismal, the nearly 64% reduction is the best number achieved by travel agencies since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Air ticket volume was off a larger 76.4% for the week ending this past Sunday, a reflection not just of far fewer sales, but also of depressed ticket prices. Still, that number also improved from the previous week, when sales volume in the agency channel was off 80.1% year over year, ARC figures show.
Agency channel air ticket transactions have inched upward on a seasonally adjusted basis in December as the prospect of available Covid-19 vaccines offers promise for the travel landscape later in 2021.
Before the rally, the transaction count dipped to 70.8% below 2019 levels for the week ending Dec. 6 amid concerns about the winter wave of Covid-19 infections.