Jan
18
Written by:
TravelingProfessor
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Philadelphia Inquirer Travel Show held last weekend was well-attended on both Saturday and Sunday. There were about 100 exhibitors and the show floor was packed most of the time.
Most of the exhibits featured regional and domestic travel, there were fewer exhibitors for international travel and even fewer for European travel. I think there was only one other exhibitor other than myself who even offered tours to Peru.
I found that most attendees were looking for luxury trips. However, I think Americans don't understand that equivalent luxury hotels in Europe are about twice the cost of what they are in the U.S.
Of the tours I offer (Paris, Italy, and Peru), people were most intrigued by the Peru/Machu Picchu trip, followed by the trip to Italy. Last year, Paris was the most popular destination by far.
I was surprised by how poorly the talks by the speakers, including the "Grannies on Safari", and "Arthur Frommer", were attended. Barely half the seats were occupied. However, for my talk on Peru and Machu Picchu, it was almost a packed house.
All in all, people seem a bit more cautious about traveling, but they do want to go on those "bucket list" trips like Machu Picchu but are just looking for the right time (or excuse) to go.