Are we in a travel bubble or a new normal?

Is the industry in the midst of a busier-than-ever normal of travel or a bubble that will pop?

That was the question posed during a Virtuoso Travel Week press conference, held in person in Las Vegas and virtually on Monday.

Misty Belles, Virtuoso's vice president of global press relations, painted a picture of what Virtuoso agencies are seeing right now.

Agency owners' optimism about their businesses has been steadily rising since the omicron variant of Covid-19 began to recede toward the end of January. Pent-up demand continues to be strong.

Virtuoso's global sales from January to July were 2% higher than the first six months of 2019, a year that was the agency network's previous high water mark.

Bookings continue to look strong going into the fall, Belles said. Hotel booking windows are again lengthening to pre-pandemic levels, and average daily rates are up considerably from 2021 and 2019.

Meanwhile, 78% of Virtuoso's travelers said they are ready to travel now, according to Belles. Factors like massive airline delays and cancellations aren't deterring them, and they're even further motivated by the strength of the dollar.