Travel Tales: The New Norm in Travel

By Pam Walker

The pandemic is over, and the world is experiencing a “re-birth” of travel. Passenger numbers at airports worldwide are now almost as high as in 2019 – and in some places, higher!

Europe is at an all-time high for travelers, and Italy has all but shut down reservations for this summer. There are few hotel rooms or tour guides to help people experience Rome, Florence, and Venice.

Hotel rates are also at an all-time high. The deluxe hotels everywhere are selling out at rates of $1,000 plus per night. Yes, there are some hostels and 3-star hotels available in other parts of Europe, but for the most part, it is hard to find a hotel room for under $500 per night.

Finding employees for tour offices, hotels, and airlines has been an ongoing challenge. A lot of this is because people have become accustomed to working from home and where there is Wi-Fi, and those who lost their jobs in tourism during the pandemic also found other forms of employment.

Now we have a new phenomenon that we will have to deal with. It is called “dynamic pricing”! The airlines have used this system for years to fill plane seats. When a flight is empty, the price goes down to sell seats. But when the flight is full, the air carrier charges a premium rate for those empty seats.

Now the same is happening in hotels and tour companies. They no longer have to “lowball” prices because the demand is high. What happens

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