After more than an 18-month wait, the ending of broad pandemic-era restrictions has spawned a flurry of activity and excitement amongst hotels, airlines and essentially the entire travel and hospitality sector, all eager to jump-start the lucrative international tourist trade.
Airbnb Co-Founder and CEO Brian Chesky told Yahoo that the home sharing platform saw bookings rise 44% in the week following President Joe Biden’s Oct. 15 announcement on lifting travel bans.
“I think that’s going to be a huge boon to travel,” Chesky said, per the report. “That’s my prediction.”
Other national hotel chains to have reported as much as a 50% jump in reservations and enormous pent-up demand.
According to data from booking platform Travelport, “In the last month, flight bookings to destinations across the USA reached 70% of pre-pandemic levels. International travel accounted for 52%. … The most popular month for international travelers to visit the U.S. is November 2021, followed closely by December 2021.”
Travelport also said “the most popular departure date for U.S.-bound international flights” year-to-date was Monday (Nov. 8), and the most popular destinations so far are big cities — New York, Miami, Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
How this plays out in the recovery of hotels in particular is of great interest to the traditional hospitality sector, as compared to homesharing, which was comparatively unscathed by foreign travel restrictions, with Airbnb reporting its “best quarter ever” in Q3.
Read more: Airbnb Logs ‘Best Quarter Ever’ Signaling Strong 2022 Travel Rebound
Home Sharing Squares Off With Hotels
Of the many unknowns as travel bans turn to travel bookings is how hotels will fare against the growing might of Airbnb, which announced its Airbnb 2021 Winter Release Tuesday (Nov. 9).
Chief among Airbnb’s winter upgrades are AirCover, top-to-bottom insurance protection free for Hosts; a new Translation Engine that understands over 60 languages; and the “I’m (even more) Flexible” search feature for travelers open to suggestions “up to 12 months in advance.”
Airbnb is capitalizing on work-from-home, with Chesky saying during the Q3 earnings call: “In recent months, some of the world’s largest companies — Procter and Gamble, Amazon, Ford, Price Waterhouse Coopers — have announced increased flexibility for employees to work remotely, and we expect many more companies to follow their lead. … Mondays and Tuesdays [are] currently our highest growing days of the week to travel.”
As for hotels, bellwether Marriott Vacations Worldwide reported Q3 results the same day as the ban lifted.
“Occupancies at our resorts this quarter were very strong despite the delta variant, and contract sales were within 3% of 2019 levels,” said CEO Stephen P. Weisz.
See more: Marriott Vacations Worldwide Reports Vacation Business Is Recovering
In Hyatt Q3 financials released Nov. 3, President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said pretax earnings neared “70% of 2019 levels and more than doubled from the prior quarter. Leisure demand continues to lead the recovery and momentum for business. and group travel is growing. The recovery is evident in more markets as travel restrictions ease and borders reopen.”
It’s early days, however, and some U.S. entry restrictions remain in place.
The White House’s Oct. 25 proclamation “suspends the entry of unvaccinated noncitizen nonimmigrants, except in limited circumstances, and it ensures that the entry of unvaccinated noncitizen nonimmigrants is consistent with applicable health and safety determinations made by the director of the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)], including a requirement that, where appropriate, such individuals agree and arrange to become fully vaccinated against COVID-19 upon their arrival.”
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