COLORADO SPRINGS — Despite the ongoing pandemic, travel agents across the Pikes Peak Region are in high demand.
“It’s been really busy and it’s been a nice change,” said travel agent Celia Mullins with T&C Travel Adventures.
Mullins is not alone, Andrea Van Note with Cruise Planners said spent up travel frustration is causing people to turn to travel agents and plan their next getaway.
“About early March everyone started to call and wanted a vacation,” said Van Note.
A big driving force behind the boom in bookings? Travelers wanting help to navigate through current COVID-19 restrictions.
“A lot of people that would be booking on their own are starting to call saying they don’t want to do hours of research to figure out what they can and can’t do,” said Mullins.
Both Mullins and Van Note said travel agents can help customers get a better deal and save you time and money if your trip is canceled or postponed.
“It’s just easier for travelers to give them all the information they need,” said Van Note.
Travel agents are not the only ones seeing an increase in travelers. Traffic at the Colorado Springs Airport has increased throughout 2021.
In February, they saw more than 55,000 passengers, a slight increase compared to January where they saw a little more than 53,000 passengers.
VisitCOS says local tourism is also picking back up. Last month, their website saw a 71% increase in traffic compared to last year. It was also up compared to March of 2019. People are also using their website to plan their next Colorado Springs vacation, their Trip Planner tool was up 35% in March compared to February.
But something to keep in mind are vaccines.
As of now, the White House will not require a national vaccine passport but some cruise lines and other companies are looking into it.
Mullins said it’s up to each traveler.
“I do think there will be a few (travelers) that won’t get it (vaccine) and they will just not go somewhere that requires it,” said Mullins.
Both agents said many people are looking at Mexico and the Caribbean as travel destinations, both locations don’t require a COVID-19 test and have on-site tests.
“Mexico doesn’t require a negative COVID test or vaccine,” said Van Note. “But getting out of there, you have to get tested but most resorts are doing the testing.”