Last week, travelers were treated to a big change.

A Florida judge ended the Biden administration’s mask mandate for flyers. Some travelers found out mid flight and shared videos of passengers and crew taking off their masks and cheering.

I think we’re all happy at the prospect of things getting back to a more normal footing.

And the end of mask mandates for airline passengers is just one more sign that we are starting to get back to normal after living with COVID-19 over the past couple of years.

As COVID-19 caseloads have fallen, so have travel restrictions, both at home and abroad. That means that more people will be traveling in 2022.

Of course, that’s great for the travel industry!

The World Travel and Tourism Council just had its 21st Global Summit in Manila, and the organization revealed a massive increase in global international flight bookings.

The WTTC is predicting a strong year internationally, with travel and tourism reaching $8.6 trillion in 2022, just 6.4% shy of pre-pandemic levels. In the U.S., however, blockbuster levels are expected with U.S. domestic travel and tourism spending forecast to reach more than $1.1 trillion for the year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels by 11.3%.

These strong numbers are music to the travel industry’s ears, which includes airlines, hotels, casinos and theme parks. They should also be great for online travel companies that were hit hard by the COVID-19-related slowdown.

But with the tourism recovery, the travel industry is looking like it’s poised to have a great year. When Delta Air Lines reported earnings earlier this month, the company posted a smaller-than- expected quarterly loss and reported that the previous five week’s bookings were the strongest period of bookings the company had ever seen in its history.

It’s looking like we are going to have a blockbuster summer for the travel industry, which should be great for travel names.

To a bright future,

Ray Blanco
Chief Technology Expert, Technology Profits Daily
AskRay@StPaulResearch.com