Summer is over but vacation opportunities are still here. As travel and tourism professionals, we are all aware of the negative impacts on our communities as a result of overtourism. And for travelers, peak season means higher prices, bigger crowds, more disruption, and a lower quality experience.

Advance Travel & Tourism knows that when destinations and attractions manage to successfully level out the seasonal flow of visitation, everyone wins. Join us in giving a thumbs down to the feast or famine seasonal tourism economy.

Jobs Matter, Words Matter

Travel is essential to the American economy. As the seventh largest private sector employer in the United States, travel accounts for 9 million direct jobs and supports 15.8 million jobs in total. By creating demand for travel throughout the year we can flatten peaks and valleys to keep these jobs as full-time roles and help to build careers in travel.

To encourage tourism year-round, terms like “off-season” and “low season” should be discouraged. Because labels like these suggest there’s a better time to visit, some DMOs are now using more appealing verbiage, such as “secret season” or “cool season” or “good deal season.” Alternatively, consider “flexible season” for visitors drawn to having spontaneity in their itinerary, allowing them to engage in authentic local experiences that are not possible during congested peak season.

Travel is Always On 

Many experts are claiming that “shoulder season” is already a thing of the past. It’s clear to everyone that year-round tourism will continue its rise in popularity.

Several key reasons contribute to this trend:

• Remote and hybrid work from home gives workers more flexibility
• “Workcations” and “bleisure travel” are ways to combine work and leisure
• Pent-up demand for travel is strong in post-pandemic times
• Seasonal price differences are shrinking as flexibility in travel dates gets stronger
• Travel companies are using yield management technology to maximize profits year-round
• Growing numbers of traveling retirees due to baby boomer demographic bell
• Climate change is redefining weather patterns

Avoid Vacation Deprivation  

Lastly, let’s not leave vacation days unused on the table. There is an opportunity to further grow domestic leisure travel, based on paid time off (PTO) and vacation usage trends. Forty-six percent of American workers fail to use all their vacation days, according to Pew Research Center.

Destinations can stimulate visitation by highlighting local happenings, museum exhibitions, cultural events, discounted restaurant weeks, and more. Talk about the benefits of mountain resorts in summer and beach holidays in fall.

Encouraging Americans to take their earned time off from work is a good way to promote year-round travel. Hosted by the U.S. Travel Association, National Plan for Vacation Day on the last Tuesday of January is an annual reminder to plan vacations for the rest of the year at the start of the year.

Learn more about how Advance Travel & Tourism can help you adapt to changes in seasonality to make a positive impact in your destination.