Thinking about a break from the snow?

Photo by Chris Mayne

What promised to be a dismal year for the travel industry based on the current economic climate is starting to turn around. Just before the Christmas holidays BayToday had a chance to speak with local travel agency Chris Mayne of Mayne Travel on Main Street who says things are looking up.

“Earlier in the fall I think that with the economic uncertainty a lot of people were reluctant to commit to travel plans this winter,” he explains.

“But what we have found in the last couple of weeks with the - 15 and the - 20 degree weather we’ve actually had some of the busiest weeks we’ve had in the last two months.”

“It’s great to see people traveling again and looking forward to the warm weather breaks, and for the people who have gone away have come back I would say obviously pleased to have a break and get away and enjoy some warm weather in the middle of this cold stuff. So yeah we’re (travel industry) hoping for another eight weeks of -20 (temperatures) that should be good for business,” he chuckles.

Mayne also says that for the traveller there are some amazing deals to be realized as the whole industry is still smarting from the financial hits they have been taking but warns it won’t last forever.

“Yes this last two months we’ve seen some of the best travel prices for people who have been able to go I’ve seen in years and here is hoping that that will continue into the New Year.”

“We’ve seen some great prices on cruises and everything so we’ll see where it goes obviously the trade off is as more people begin to travel the prices are going to stabilize or come back up, but there should still be some good deals early in the New Year."