Nearly two-thirds of U.S. tour operators have seen an
increase in bookings over the last 30 days, according to the latest survey by
the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA).
The group reports that 64% of its active members who
responded to the poll reported a rise in bookings in the last month. Only 7%
reported a decrease, while 29% said they hadn’t seen a change.
Asked when customers who booked in the last 30 to 60 days
planned to travel, 41% said bookings were for travel in the fourth quarter of
2020 and 15% said they were for the third quarter.
Additionally, 51% reported new bookings for the first
quarter of 2021, 76% said they had new bookings for the second quarter, and 63%
said they had bookings for the third and fourth quarters of next year.
Seventy-one percent of current bookings are to international
destinations, with the remaining 29% in North America.
“This reveals a slight increase in demand for North America
product compared to the survey USTOA conducted in May, which reported North
America travel bookings representing 20% of business,” said USTOA president and
CEO Terry Dale.