Those who've been fending off a 'travel itch' for the past year are eager to get away in 2022.
SellOff Vacations Area Sales Manager Michelle Roelofs said they're unusually busy for this time of year with more people looking to book getaways.
"Our bookings for 2022 are far ahead of what we usually are at this point in the year," she said. "Usually April and May tend to be our quietest months for the travel industry."
Roelofs said the top three popular travel destinations right now are Cancun, Mexico; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; and Jamaica.
"There [has] also been some interest in Cuba," said Roelofs.
However, in some cases, travelers are willing to take a more extravagant vacation than they normally would.
"They're spending a little bit more and they're wanting to treat themselves," she said. "Cuba has always been our top seller for the Caribbean [but] it has kind of fallen off as people are looking to try something else."
Roelofs said travelers who typically take cruises are very loyal to that method of vacationing, something that doesn't appear to have changed.
"A lot of them have travel credits from cruises that haven't traveled for the past year and a bit so they are actually booking up," she said. "We have the 90-day cruises and one of the cruise lines opened up their 'World Sailing' and it sold out within a day, which is crazy"
Roelofs said anyone considering taking a trip next year should look into booking it sooner rather than later.
"We're in a unique situation right now with the tour operators because there have been so many bookings for 2022," she said. "Of course, their availability is disappearing a lot earlier than it would in a typical year so there have already been hints saying that prices are going to start going up."
Meantime, Roelofs said they are currently working with clients who have travel credits as the federal government has started issuing refund money to certain companies.
"If anyone is holding a future travel credit, I would say get in touch with your travel agency," she said. "The federal government is releasing it to one company at a time. We have no foresight as to what's coming next or what the terms and conditions are but we are in that process."
Roelofs said the travel industry may rebound in the near future in parts of the world but if Canada's industry is going to rebound, restrictions will need to be lifted. Under current restrictions, anyone flying into Canada from abroad will have to quarantine in a hotel for three days and provide a negative PCR test, before going home or to a designated residence to self-isolate.
-With files from Colin Gowdy
