Most 2020 travel at a standstill; 2021 remains ‘iffy’

The travel industry has been in a virtual holding pattern for four months. One local travel planner said she’s not booking much of anything through at least the end of the year.

Diana Deeds, owner of Diana Deeds Travel in Scottsbluff, said coronavirus pandemic concerns have stalled her industry at this point.

“I am doing domestic travel, rarely,” Deeds said. “I’m doing a few airline tickets domestically, but I am not booking any international travel at all for 2020.”

As for 2021, Deeds, who has been in the industry for more than 40 years, said travel still remains “iffy.” Deeds is part of Uniglobe Travel, an organization that keeps travel agents such as herself apprised of the latest situations impacting the industry. Representatives from airlines, cruise lines and tour operators are advising that mid-2021 is likely a best-case scenario for travel to open back up for some sort of normal operation.

“Cruise lines have so much to get through before they can even begin to think about having people on board,” Deeds said. “It’s because there are so many people, and there are so many hoops they have to jump through at this point to keep everyone safe. What they’re saying is, if they do something wrong, cruising could be over for years. If they send a cruise ship out there, and something happens, it’s going to be devastating again, so they’re being very, very cautious.”

There are still cruises being advertised for 2020, but they are likely to be canceled the closer it comes to departure date.

Some in the travel industry are pushing back even beyond mid-2021, even pushing back into 2022.

“We’ve got agents who are booking 2022 travel already,” Deeds said. “But those that are booking early 2021, questionable. Very questionable.”

Mexico has somewhat less stringent travel restrictions than other counties, so Deeds said she is seeing some activity there. She said she has some bookings for Mexico in October that haven’t yet canceled, but she’s unsure at this point if her clients will still want to make the trip by then.

Domestically, the number of flights has seen a dramatic decrease, and flying has become increasingly difficult. For example, where there may have been 10 non-stop flights from Denver to San Francisco in the past, there might be two now. As a result, the capacity for passengers to fly non-stop has taken a hit.

“Airlines are still going, they’re just deleting a lot of flights,” Deeds said. “A lot of the non-stop flights have been canceled so they’re doing additional stopovers with plane changes. All the reservations I did last week are having schedule changes already, So that’s an ongoing thing, changing schedules after people have booked.”

There are many loopholes that could impact someone wanting to travel right now, making it even more difficult to successfully travel.

“Some places you have to be tested within 24 hours of departure, you have to prove that,” Deeds said. “They’re taking your temperature, if you get there and you have a high temperature, you’re not getting on the plane.”

At Disney World, for example, anyone entering the park has their temperature taken. If an individual’s temperature is too high, they are placed in a holding room for 20 minutes and checked again. If the temperature is still too high, that individual and their entire party is turned away.

“You have to be honest with your clients,” Deeds said. “They’re the ones who ultimately have to make the decision whether they want to travel or not. But we can advise them what we’re hearing.”

Deeds said places such as Alaska that are dependent on the cruise industry have been hit hard this year.

“It was very devastating for the Alaska cruisers because all those people in Alaska rely on the cruise industry in the summer for their whole yearly income,” she said. “Of course, when the cruise ships didn’t stop, therefore, none of the tours could go, so those people have been horribly devastated by this whole thing.”

When the time comes, and people are ready to start making travel arrangements again, Deeds has some advice there, too.

“People are going to realize that travel advisers are a lifeline,” she said. “The people who booked on their own, some have gotten zero refunds. Some have spent hours and hours trying to get through or to re-book. We have hotlines to the cruise lines. We have hotlines to the tour operators. We have preferred suppliers that we do so much business with that we get preferred treatment. Travel advisers are going to be a hot commodity when travel starts up again. Those who book on their own are really taking a risk.”

No matter how the rest of the year plays out, Deeds said 2020 will have left it’s mark on the travel industry.

“Everybody has been horribly devastated,” she said. “The hotel business, car rentals, you think about all the people who move people every single day around this country, around the world, who don’t have any business.”

mark.mccarthy@starherald.com