| Hey, Jim here. The summer travel season is officially upon us, and after two years of lockdowns, mask mandates, and avoiding crowds, you're probably ready to head out for a true vacation. But maybe you're also noticing that your escape is shaping up to be anything but normal. In the latest Bloomberg Businessweek, we explore the many surprises that await you in our Summer Travel special report. The fun begins with an overwhelmed travel industry, which is plagued by staff shortages that have caused the cost of travel to soar. Despite airfares in the US having surged 25% above pre-pandemic levels, planes and airports are packed this summer—causing long check-in lines and baggage claim waits. It's a similar story in Europe, which is suffering from staff shortages in cockpits, on airport ramps, and even at border crossings. That's triggered massive delays, waves of schedule changes, and last-minute flight cancellations on both sides of the Atlantic. If that makes you want to avoid flying altogether, the outlook isn't much better for earthbound travel this season, as our colleagues at Bloomberg Pursuits pointed out. Hotel prices have spiked—soaring 55% above 2019 rates in Miami, this season's hottest destination—and vacation home rental prices in the US have risen 25% from pre-Covid days. Cruise lines have been closing some shipboard restaurants and even canceling already-paid bookings because they can't get enough visas for their usual cohort of seafarers to return to work. Rental car rates have jumped as much as 40% from 2019 because of a shortage of cars. And, with the cost of gasoline eclipsing $4.70 a gallon nationally, simply taking a road trip is going to be expensive. So when all else fails, just remember: You're really good at the staycation by now. —Jim Ellis, Bloomberg Businessweek assistant managing editor | 
No comments:
Post a Comment