Overseas Adventure Travel is offering Namibia at $266 per day, including roundtrip airfare. Voyages of Discovery is offering free air from selected gateways for Antarctica expedition cruises. Travel Bound recently held a 24-hour worldwide hotel sale with savings of up to 30%.
Since last month, operators have been coming out with more, and bigger, deals than usual.
And while this is the traditional time of year to push low-season, winter value vacations, operators and agents both admit that the sheer volume and scope of the deals right now are signs of trying economic times.
"As in any industry, if it is not selling, you offer fire sales," said Stephanie Gumm, owner of Ellicott City, Md.-based agency Holiday Travel Bureau, a member of agency group Ensemble. "We have seen our Ensemble suppliers being more aggressive this year with last-minute specials."
Gumm noted recent specials she's seen, such as Globus offering savings of up to $1,000 on off-season packages and General Tours World Traveler slashing $500 per person off its Delights Along the Danube river cruise.
"In speaking with my supplier sale reps, most of them are down," said Gumm.
"Some blame it on the economic slowdown, but more so on the devaluing of the U.S. dollar to the euro and British pound and increased fuel costs scaring people from traveling," she said.
Those who are opting to travel are definitely bargain hunting, said Bob Drumm, president of Keene, N.H.-based General World Tours.
"We do know that people are looking for high value these days," Drumm said. "So we're looking for deals for people, because we'd all like to see a little more traffic these days."
With customers looking to save on their vacations, operators are leaning more heavily on low-season business than they have in the past.
"We hope we get some alternative incremental passengers in 2008, which has been a challenge, and it's also a catalyst for getting 2009 off to a good start," said Jennifer Halbroth, manager of channel marketing at Globus.
Globus is pushing the recent release of its European winter brochure, touting savings of 20% to 50% off regular high-season packages.
Trafalgar is also pushing its value-season vacations, having released its winter brochure only a few weeks ago with prices as much as 40% below the high summer season packages.
Several operators, including Perillo Tours and Celtic Tours World Vacations, have also been offering free air to Italy.
"We have seen some remarkable offers by our preferred suppliers that indeed were not offered in previous years at this same part of the season," said Janet Nelson of Jade Travel, an Ensemble member agency based in Topeka, Kan.
Nelson said that the deals were starting to persuade a few clients.
"These great offers are beginning to stimulate business for us," said Nelson, "so we are very optimistic about the rest of 2008."