Ruby Stanfield, a travel agent in Passaic County, has never seen her phone lines and email inbox so busy. Everyone wants to travel these days, and they’re now willing to pay top dollar to get there.
“We’ve been busy all year. Since COVID, it’s been tough,” said Stanfield, who owns Ruby’s Travel in Wayne. “We used to slow down in the summer, but we’re not going to slow down now.”
Experts say the travel industry, which has suffered an estimated $4 trillion in damages worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has fundamentally changed as we emerge from the three-year global health crisis.
Travel has recovered from the pandemic and exceeded pre-COVID-19 levels.
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For example, according to a study by Oxford Economics, travel levels to New Jersey’s tourist destinations (including the Jersey Shore) are expected to exceed 2019 levels in 2023 and increase annually.
Not only has travel recovered, but industries have changed: tipping has become more common, restaurants and hospitality businesses have experienced severe labor shortages, and new technologies have emerged, such as QR codes replacing restaurant menus.
And many travelers have been pushing the boundaries of what defines a vacation.
“There’s never been anything as big as COVID, and there’s never going to be anything like it,” Stanfield said. Not even inflation, which is calming from a 40-year high, Stanfield said.
Airfares are soaring and so are baggage fees
Demand for travel remains high despite high costs in some respects – airfares, for example, are quite expensive.
The low airfare prices seen during the pandemic are long gone, but after all, they are still lower than the worst of summer 2022 inflation.
The average price of a flight out of Newark Liberty International Airport in the second half of 2023 will be $426, up from $232 in the second half of 2020, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Many airlines, including Newark-based United Airlines, are raising baggage fees.
“The airlines lost a lot of money and maybe they’re trying to recoup that money,” said Claudette Fujikawa, a Hackensack-based travel agent with AAA Northeast.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Security Administration has rolled out new technology, including facial scanning and photo ID authentication, raising privacy concerns over how the data will be stored and used.
New Jersey’s tourist destinations benefit from high airfares
Jeffrey Vasser, director of New Jersey’s Department of Travel and Tourism, which markets the state as a vacation destination to the rest of the country and the world, said the higher airfares have been a blessing in disguise for New Jersey’s tourist destinations, including the New Jersey Shore.
“Even during the peak of the pandemic, it didn’t suffer as much as other destinations that are more dependent on air travel,” Vassar said.
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Travelers from New York, Pennsylvania and New England will be able to simply drive to the Jersey Shore rather than paying expensive airfares.
“That’s always been our competitive advantage,” he said.
Tipping, QR codes and personalized service — how dining out is changing
Tipping has become more common when dining out on vacation.
Before the pandemic, the practice was largely limited to sit-down restaurants, bell-top, or valet parking in cars. Now, it’s an option offered at any business with a rotating touchscreen, including fast-food restaurants, coffee shops, food trucks, delivery apps, and ride-sharing services.
Parul Jain, a professor of finance and economics at Rutgers Business School, said tipping has become much more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the past, people tipped based on performance, she said, but now that touchscreens are so ubiquitous, there’s a lot of pressure, even in places where tipping wasn’t even considered before.
Even after the pandemic subsided, tipping expectations remained high: “The bar for tipping has gone up,” Jain said. Plus, restaurants, already facing rising food costs, have come to rely on increased tips to pay their employees.
QR codes were introduced during the pandemic as a contactless way to view menus, but customer backlash has led some restaurants to ease up on their adoption.
Meanwhile, staffing shortages at restaurants and hotels, seen during what was known as the “Great Resignation” in 2021, are lingering.
Restaurant employee numbers have only surpassed pre-pandemic levels in recent months, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Working remotely while on the go or taking a “quiet vacation”
Joshua Friedlander, vice president of research at the U.S. Travel Association, said the ease of working remotely has led more people to use business travel as a way to add to their vacation time.
And people are increasingly working remotely from all sorts of exotic locations and travel destinations, essentially taking a working vacation, Friedlander said.
“In theory, you could work from anywhere on Friday as long as you have a digital connection,” he said.
Also known as “quiet leave,” this method essentially allows employees to take time off without using paid leave, but they must blur their backgrounds in Zoom during meetings.
A June report from the Harris Poll found that 48% of American workers are likely to take a quiet vacation over the Fourth of July weekend, most of whom are millennials and Gen Z.
Tim Osiecki, director of thought leadership and trends at The Harris Poll, said young professionals’ ability to enjoy time off is being hindered by “workplace culture and workload pressures,” with many dreading “the mountain of work waiting for them to return.”
“Remote work has blurred the lines between work and personal time, making it harder for employees to disconnect from work,” he said in an email.
Expanded travel insurance and refundable bookings
Fujikawa, the AAA travel agent in Hackensack, said many travelers learned a painful lesson when travel plans were canceled or indefinitely postponed amid the pandemic shutdowns.
Cassandra Happe, an analyst at financial advice website WalletHub, said the goal for many travelers will be to get travel insurance, or at least find a refundable booking.
A December poll by Business Insider found that 38% of travelers surveyed purchase travel insurance.
Casinos and business travel still struggling
Online gambling and sports betting (either online or via mobile apps) have both seen double-digit increases year-over-year, while in-person gambling revenue has remained roughly flat.
“Casinos have not fully recovered their attendance,” said Vassar of the state tourism office.
Meanwhile, business travel is struggling to return to pre-pandemic levels, Vasser and Friedlander said.
“People are still doing some of their meetings virtually,” Vassar said. “They may be doing larger meetings in person, but some of their regional meetings are virtual.”
Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.
Email: email address; twitter:Daniel Munoz and Facebook
