“Go big or stay home” will be the mantra for many travelers as they emerge from pandemic restrictions, according to J.D. O’Hara, CEO of Internova, speaking virtually at an annual media event. He explained that advisors are hearing that clients are asking about bucket list destinations, longer stays, private villas and working remotely in a destination for extended periods.

Internova, formerly Travel Leaders Group, said O’Hara, is the largest travel advisor organization in the U.S. with divisions devoted to leisure, corporate and entertainment travel. It has 50,000 travel advisors in the U.S. and 15,000 in the rest of the world with 2019 travel sales of over $20 billion.

A number of Internova executives spoke at the event with the overall theme that there is huge pent-up demand for travel and limited availability for the near future. Several called for global and inter-governmental consistency around health and safety protocols.

O’Hara said that because of increasing demand, prices will be creeping up through the year. He said advisors will be more important than ever with the need for information about how and where to travel. To meet that need, Internova has implemented multiple programs including Book with Confidence, which helps advisors stay on top of changing health and safety data; support of Common Pass , which will be a universal standard verifying that travelers have passed a COVID-19 test; and Verified, in partnership with Forbes Travel Guides, which qualifies hotels based on health standards.

“We need consistent government requirements of testing and vaccines, not quarantines,” said O’Hara. As part of that, he said industry organizations must be united in calling for those standards.

Air Capacity Growing

Peter Vlitas, senior vice president – airline relations, said air capacity is growing significantly as airlines plan for significant demand in the summer . A lot of smaller and mid-sized corporate customers are already traveling. While many are saying that 15 percent of business travel will never return, Vlitas said the same things were said after 9/11, and it did not happen. “I think the new world will look a lot like the old world,” he explained.

Vlitas said that Internova is lobbying the government every week, calling for bilateral agreements with other countries. He said the airline industry is supporting a contact tracing program and that a QR code is needed for testing and, finally, that “we need a global standard for health verification.”

On the cruise front, Annie Scrivanich, senior vice president for Cruise Specialists, said that there is opportunity. She said that a third of world cruise departures for 2023 are already sold out with fares beginning at $50,000 per person. “We are pleased at the booking pace,” she said.

Scrivanich said that with all the cancellations and postponements last year, there are thousands of trips yet to be booked – and she added that consumers are buying “up” into suites, cabins with verandas and longer voyages. She said the cruise lines are adding value vs. reducing prices. Another trend, said Scrivanich, is hosted voyages to provide travelers with an extra level of assurance.

Her advice to advisors is that clients plan and book early and that they buy insurance. “We are very optimistic about the future,” she said, “and are grateful to cruise lines for the time and effort they have put into resolving problems.”

Faisal Sublaban, senior vice president-hotel relations, said that 80 percent of revenue booked for the past four weeks has been for arrival within the next 30 days and that the top five destinations are Florida, Hawaii, California, Texas and Georgia. He said Cancun and Los Cabos have been top destinations throughout the crisis and will continue to be so. Looking ahead, he said there is strength for spring break, all-inclusives, kid-friendly and business-friendly resorts and villas and vacation homes.

Looking abroad, Sublaban said that new destinations are opening up daily but the focus will be on domestic for a while because people will feel more comfortable about that. The path forward, he said, will involve contactless guest experiences that include mobile check-in and checkout, grab-and-go meals, reduced housekeeping and smart rooms with everything controlled from a smartphone.

During a question-and-answer session, the following points were also made:

—Angie Licea, president of the Global Travel Collection, a luxury division, said that bookings are closer to home and domestic with lots of bookings for private jets, villas and private islands as people seek a secluded enlivenment. The second half of the year, she said, will see a lot of international wellness travel .

—There will continue to be health protocols for a while, said Licea, including social distancing and masks. She said they will continue into 2022 and then dissipate.

—Lee Thomas, COO for Altour, a business travel division, said certain business sectors are already traveling with smaller companies “needing to survive.” He said some verticals were actually up last year over 2019 as smaller companies used travel for a competitive advantage.

—Executives agreed that people still want to become advisors, although there will be changes – like going from brick and mortar to home-based. John Lovell, president of Travel Leaders Group, now a division of Internova, said there will be just as many if not more sellers of travel.

—Lovell said his “gut” tells him vaccines will be a requirement for cruising .

—There is tremendous pent-up demand in weddings and honeymoons, said Lovell, which will be extremely strong.

—Lovell said a huge trend is grandparents making bookings with grandchildren, skipping a generation perhaps because “parents need a break.”