Snowy winter leads to uptick in business at Halifax travel agencies

HALIFAX – A brutal winter is making many Nova Scotians dream about a sunny escape and that’s proving to be a boon for local travel agencies.

The telephones have been ringing off the hook at Expedia Cruise Ship Centres in Halifax.

Deanna Skinner, the vice-president of marketing for Maritime Travel, said she has seen the same thing.

“Vacation packages, cruises to the sun, are just going through the roof, “she said. “We saw a big surge this past four weeks or so.”

Expedia primarily sells cruises, but also books flights and all-inclusive packages. After bad winter weather, Myers said the agents have heard all kinds of reasons for leaving

“‘Get me out of here. If I don’t get my wife and four kids out of town on March break they’re going to kill me,'” she said, laughing.

Travel agents expect to remain busy through the end of the March break.

“We are pretty much where we expected,” said Skinner, “But we did have a surge, so we should see some good numbers.”

Cruise bookings are up, and Skinner said Maritime Travel has seen a huge interest in Cuba as a vacation destination.

“I don’t know if that’s because people are wanting to go there before the Americans go, but that’s been a big growth one this year.”

Despite the Canadian dollar taking a beating on the markets, Skinner said people are still booking. Some are even making plans up to a year in advance, as travellers anticipate another bad winter next year.

“It doesn’t seem to be impacting people’s decisions,” she said. “We’re selling a huge amount of river cruises in Europe and those have to be booked in advance to get the sailings people want.”