At Travel Exchange in Reno, Nevada, last month, National Tour Association members generated business contracts, relationship-building, and community spirit. The annual conference also produced a wealth of insight into the packaged travel industry, according to NTA President Catherine Prather.
“The feedback I’ve received from members indicates that the travel industry’s bumpy road will smooth out a bit in the next two years, and some new paths are likely to open up for tour operators,” said Prather, noting that 130 tour operators attended the show, with overall registration up 20% over the 2021 event. “We packed an incredible amount of business, education, and networking into our four days in Reno.”
Challenges remain, though, for tour operators who design and conduct multiday tours, Prather said, most notably in tour suppliers’ staffing. The issues are twofold.
“The most apparent problems caused by staff shortages are reduced hours at restaurants, reduced services at hotels, and fewer motorcoach drivers to handle multiday group tours,” Prather said. “But our operators are also dealing with a second phase of staffing issues, and it relates to inexperience.”
Prather has been in touch with operators who say that when they contact hotels and restaurants to get rates and dates for future tours, they are spending a good deal of time explaining common practices and operations associated with scheduling groups. The problem has been exacerbated by a surge in transient travel.
“We believe this is short-sighted and the transient market will come back down to Earth,” Prather said. “Our hope is that, with more information and education, suppliers will recognize that tour operators will be back year after year with their groups, and it’s unwise to turn them away during a short-lived surge in transient business.”
Timing and timeliness are also concerns that were expressed by operators. “We’re hearing that some suppliers are quite slow to respond to operators’ requests—which might be related to staff shortages,” she said. “And when they do respond, their cancellation policies often are not in line with late-booking trends that appear to have intensified during and after the pandemic.”
The news is not all bad, though—far from it.
