What travelers should expect in ’18
Northern destinations such as Iceland are hot.
Christopher Elliott USA TODAY
Fellow travelers, it’s not too soon to start thinking about your 2018 itineraries.
Steven Scholnick is. He’s planning a trip to Europe with his wife next summer to celebrate their 50th birthdays, with stops in Amsterdam and Dublin. “I expect a larger police presence at popular destinations,” says Scholnick, a software engineer from Pittsburgh.
He should. With next year’s travel season just around the corner — spring break is not too far away — travelers and experts are assessing the 2018 travel landscape. And while safety remains a top concern, other surprises await.
Prices are headed higher. First, get ready to pay a little more next year. Global airfares are expected to rise 3.5% in 2018, while hotel prices will climb
3.7%, slightly higher than the predicted
3% inflation rate, according to the travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel and the Global Business Travel Association Foundation. It’ll pay to plan ahead.
Caribbean alternatives
With many popular islands damaged or almost destroyed by this season’s hurricanes, travelers are looking for substitutes, says Cyril Lemaire, a digital consultant from Boston. His client, the Spanish island of Tenerife, was among them. “They’ve seen a 350% increase in our website traffic since the hurricane(s),” he says.
Going north
Experts say northern destinations like Alaska, Canada, Iceland and the Nordic countries are hot in 2018. But they are expensive. Book early for the best discounts.
Avoiding hot spots
For 2018, many international travelers say they’re steering clear of potential hot spots. One country that keeps coming up: Turkey. With a recent visa dispute and conflicts with other European neighbors, people with plans to visit the region are reconsidering. Chris Backe and his wife are having reservations about their extended visit to Turkey in early 2018. “It looks like those plans are on hold,” says Backe, an author and photographer who lives in Düsseldorf, Germany. “We’ll probably head to Bulgaria instead.”
No more fees?
Will 2018 finally be the year we get rid of annoying fees? “We’re at a tipping point,” says Charlie Leocha, chairman of Travelers United, a Washington advocacy group. (Disclosure: I co-founded Travelers United.)
At the top of his list are resort fees, which are mandatory extras, added to the base rate after you begin the booking process online. The average resort fee, which covers everything from “free” Wi-Fi to access to exercise facilities, is now at almost $21 per night, a jump of 8.7% from a year ago, according to Resortfeechecker.com.
The year of AI?
I’ve been a skeptic of artificial intelligence, but in the past few weeks I’ve had several conversations with insiders who tell me AI is almost ready for prime time. One of them is Terry Jones, the creator of Travelocity who now leads a company called Wayblazer, a developer of arti- ficial intelligence travel applications. “2018 will usher in an era where customers will move from interacting with a Web page to interacting with an intelligent assistant who can actually give advice,” he says.
The most reliable applications start a conversation with the machine and then transfer you to a person, for now. But who knows, in 2018, your travel agent might be a robot.
Staying safe
Last, but not least, travelers are more worried about safety than ever. The world is becoming a dangerous place for some visitors.
Scholnick, the software engineer, is planning to sign up for the government’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) before he goes, so that if something goes wrong, the State Department will know how to reach him.
That’s good advice. The process takes a few minutes, but it costs nothing and is worth the effort if you’re traveling internationally (step.state.gov/step/).