Sharon and I have been in the travel business for close to 35 years. And over that time we have learned that people travel for three reasons……. One; “to solve a problem”, I must be in (insert city) on (insert date) for a meeting; ………. Two “”to get a feeling”, I(we) want to see blue waters, or warm sunny beaches or go on that long-awaited vacation; and Three, “VFR…. Visit friends and relatives”. That’s it, it is for these three reasons that people travel.
The most overlooked and taken for granted reason to travel, and by far, the busiest one, is visiting friends and relatives. That’s why Thanksgiving weekend and all the other major holidays are the most active and crowded travel times of the year. We all want to visit with family and be there for the important (read happy) family occasions.
From a travel perspective, I can tell you, that as I write this article, travel for all reasons, especially visiting friends and relatives is, I believe, back to pre-pandemic levels. Forget what you’re reading or hearing about inflation, high gas prices or the general state of the economy, people are spending their hard-earned dollars to travel. Don’t get me wrong, inflation and gas prices are a big issue, but people are traveling and from this economic point of view, things are good.
Case in point. Our son Jonathan just got married last month to our new daughter-in-law, Rachel here in New York where we live. We had friends and family travel to New York for the wedding from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Minnesota, San Francisco, California, Atlanta, Georgia, Miami Florida and Tel Aviv in Israel, just to highlight a few. The overwhelming desire seemed to be to be to share the event, with friends and family.
Notwithstanding the economic news and the lingering effects of the pandemic. I am very optimistic on the state of travel. We are getting on with our lives, moving about the country and that’s a good thing. Travel safe.
