Small Group Land Journeys Booming for 2018
Travel tour operators have an overwhelmingly positive outlook for 2018
We’ve been sharing with you for months about how busy the ocean and river cruise industry is right now.
In fact, I was talking with one of our cruise suppliers this morning, and she mentioned that they were already 80% sold-out before we even get into the busy first-quarter wave season.
Travel Tip: book now or get shut out for 2018!
Now, you should also know that this travel boom is not happening in just the ocean and river cruise industry. Tour operators are also proclaiming that sales are very strong as well for 2018.
Tour Industry Optimism is Unprecented
Take a peek at this from our friends at TravelAge West:
“December 7, 2017 – At this year’s United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) Annual Conference & Marketplace — held at The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Fla., from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 — the 2018 USTOA Executive Committee discussed the results of a recent member survey of travel forecasts and trends.
Among the highlights is an overwhelmingly positive outlook for 2018, with nearly 95 percent of USTOA members anticipating an increase in sales, and 64 percent predicting that 2018 will be a “boom year,” with growth ranging from 7 percent up to more than 10 percent.
According to Terry Dale, president, and CEO of USTOA, this optimism is unprecedented.
“In my seven years with USTOA, it’s the first time when talking with my members that virtually every single one, regardless of the category, is seeing strong single- or double-digit growth,” he said.
Harry Dalgaard, president of Avanti Destinations and the USTOA board’s vice chair, is seeing a 39 percent increase in advance bookings for his company’s FIT tours in Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
“If the market is strong, people feel comfortable and are willing to spend,” he said.”
Carol and I are big fans of small group land journeys. Rather than riding around in a huge bus with 50 people, these small group journey ofttimes have no more than 14-20 people and offer a far more intimate experience.
Before starting our travel agency, Carol and I were honored to be hosted by Abercrombie & Kent on one of their small-group Connections journeys in Spain. To see the video from our journey, CLICK HERE.
Search 4,848 Tours at our Virtuoso Travel Dreams Website
So, how about you? Are you ready to plan a fun small group land journey for 2018? If so, come browse through our website where you will find 4,848 journeys providing customized small group itineraries all around the world.
And, 939 of them come with exclusive, complimentary VIP Virtuoso perks. And most important of all, all of these providers have been in business for years and are annually vetted by Virtuoso.
To explore our sortable list, CLICK HERE.
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I would like to see an article on the number of people permitted on group tours on the various river/ocean cruises. I went on Avalon last year and they were permitted to put 32 in each group and sometimes it ended up being a few more. Way too many. Even though they have the “whisperer” you cannot keep up with the guide.
Hi Linda,
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your concern. I agree, 32 in a group is too big. We’ll check into it. Thanks!