CCRA unveils Top10 cities for Spring travel in the U.S. and abroad, based on travel agent bookings made through CCRA’s commissionable hotel and air booking engines.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS – CCRA – a global hub for travel technology, marketing, accreditation and education – announced the top 10 domestic and international spring vacation destinations based on travel agent bookings made through the CCRAtravel.com hotel booking engine. CCRA also revealed the Top 5 international air booking trends for U.S. departures this spring, based on international air bookings made by travel agents through CCRA’s AirSelect Central commissionable air booking engine. This CCRA quarterly travel trends report provides the travel industry with useful information on where consumers who seek travel professionals’ services are planning to vacation in the U.S. and abroad, for the upcoming spring travel season.
The following ten domestic and international cities have received the greatest number of hotel bookings to-date through the CCRAtravel.com hotel reservations portal, for spring arrivals between March 20th and June 20th, 2015:
The Top 10 U.S. Cities For Spring 2015 Hotel Stays:
- Las Vegas, NV
- New Orleans, LA
- New York, NY
- Nashville, TN
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Miami, FL
- Orlando, FL *NEW
- Anaheim, CA
- El Paso, TX *NEW
- Kissimmee, FL *NEW
The Top 10 International Cities For Spring 2015 Hotel Stays:
- London, GB
- Amsterdam, NL
- Paris, FR
- Rome, IT
- Vancouver, CA
- Barcelona, ES
- Copenhagen, DK *NEW
- Prague, CZ *NEW
- Punta Cana, DO *NEW
- Venice, IT
Based on CCRA’s year-over-year 2014/2015 hotel booking comparisons, the following three new cities appear on CCRA’s Top 10 U.S. Cities list for 2015 spring arrivals: Orlando, FL; El Paso, TX; and Kissimmee, FL. Additionally, the following three new cities appear on CCRA’s Top 10 International Cities list: Copenhagen, DK; Prague, CZ; and Punta Cana, DO.
CCRA’s Top 5 International Air Booking Trends are based on the greatest number of U.S. departures to the following international cities that have been booked by travel agents to-date via the CCRA AirSelect Central booking engine, during the same spring 2015 travel period:
The Top 5 International Air Booking Trends For Spring 2015:
- Dublin, Ireland
- Rome, Italy
- Toronto, Canada
- London, Great Britain
- Manila, Philippines
“Our spring bookings demonstrate that several recently announced 2015 U.S. consumer travel trend reports and international travel predictions from leading industry sources are right on the money,” said Dic Marxen, President and CEO of CCRA Travel Commerce Network. “The trend of increased international air and hotel bookings being made by travel agents for 2015 to some of Europe’s most popular tourist cities – including London, Rome and Paris – is in line with the travel industry’s prediction that more American travelers will visit Europe in 2015. Analysts say that this is due to reduced fuel costs and cheaper airfares as well the recent shift in exchange rates that has increased the value of the U.S. dollar compared to the euro and British pound. In addition to increased travel demand from American travelers, it is interesting to see three new international cities – Copenhagen, Prague and Punta Cana – make our Top 10 List and that those destinations are also enticing the U.S. travel market by offering incredible off-season hotel and airfare deals and the appeal of fewer crowds for travel this spring.”
“This marks the first year that we have included international air booking trends in our quarterly CCRA travel trend report, since we unveiled our CCRA AirSelect program for travel agents last year,” said Steve Pello, Vice President of CCRA’s Air Partner Network. “In addition to every domestic carrier found in the GDS, a total of 49 commissionable international air carriers may be booked through AirSelect Central, or with our negotiated contracts in the GDS. As more Americans are seeking international travel experiences in 2015, now is the ideal time for travel agents to register to use our air booking engine or link to us in the GDS to provide their clients with some of the most competitive and commissionable international airfare rates to alluring cities around the world, including those mentioned in our Top International Cities lists for travel this spring.”
Through CCRA AirSelect Central, travel agencies can book domestic and international airlines with auto-ticketing available 24/7, and receive commissions of up to 25 percent for qualifying reservations from CCRA preferred international airline partners. Agencies will then receive 80 percent of the total air commissions earned. Once bookings have been made, CCRA will handle the ticket fulfillment and will reconcile air carrier commission payments and service fees to travel agencies.
CCRAtravel.com offers travel agents real-time availability for up to five different rate categories on a single search at over 180,000 hotels worldwide. Agents can choose between GDS rates, Promotional rates, Internet rates, Net rates and the 15% Enhanced Commission rate categories. In addition, agents can set their own commission by adding a mark-up to Net rates.
Photo caption: London tops the Top 10 U.S. Cities For Spring 2015 Hotel Stays list.
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