The short answer is...it's springtime! No, it's not about the tulips and daffodils that are flowering abundantly, or soon will be in those areas in which they thrive. Tulips are among my fave flowers, but deer love them too, and my tulips were always synonymous with 'salad', so I stopped planting them eventually. But I digress. This is about travel (tulip-time river cruise anyone?).
April IS great for travel. Spring, which I'll define as April through mid-May for this conversation, is 'shoulder season' in travel: that time of year between the combined "gotta get out of the cold"/November to January holidays/spring break travel rush, and the summertime/kids out of school for weeks/"now's our chance to travel" craziness.
"But WHY?" you ask. You're also wondering, "So what?" Funny you should ask. Like most travel advisors (TA's) I encourage my clients to travel in the shoulder months for a few reasons, the most selfish of which is that word I just used...craziness. Much our time is spent planning for the aforementioned high seasons of travel when availability dwindles, prices go up, our overseas partners are swamped with requests for their assistance with our in-destination clients, and our own schedules are pushed to the limits with designing experiences that wow our clients.
Cue the much-welcome spring shoulder season, and its fall cousin too. These shoulder seasons of travel are encouraged not only because they sometimes herald less income for TA's given that the high travel seasons are 'high' for many reasons - the weather, the holidays, pre-scheduled vacations - but because we know that the high seasons, especially since the pandemic, are leaving some destinations 'bone dry' of tourist resources So if there's a destination on your list and you've heard that it's "sold out" or lacking availability of tours, accommodations, affordability, etc., (yes I'm talking about you, Italy) then shoulder season deserves your focus. I'm having no trouble booking my shoulder season-vacationing clients, whether for this spring and fall, or next. They'll be able to enjoy without scorching summer heat and throngs of summer crowds, they can get reservations at restaurants without joining the waitlist, they might even skip-the-line since there isn't one.
The Mediterranean is a perfect shoulder season destination; it gets pretty darn hot and crowded. Think also south Florida, Washington DC (they have cherry blossoms!), southwestern (i.e., desert) U.S., Great Britain, most of the European and African continents, the Middle East, and yes South America. Hmmm...that's everywhere, almost (omitting the Caribbean's ever-present beach weather, of course).
So it's settled then? Shoulder season is your new favorite travel season?
'til next week.
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