Despite price increases of between 10 and 15 per cent on some packages this winter, the country’s largest tour operator, Transat, said it’s selling more vacations to sun destinations like Cuba compared to last year.
“We don’t see any difference” in appetite from customers to travel south, Jean-Marc Eustache, the head of the Montreal-based company, said.
On a conference call, Eustache said hotel operators in Cuba and other key sun markets – namely Mexico and the Dominican Republic – have increased their prices as a result of the falling Canadian dollar, lifting costs for Transat.
Warmer weather in eastern Canada this year also isn’t proving to be a meaningful deterrent, either, the executive said.
Discounting has helped. Transat said it implemented a seat sale up to the end of September ahead of price increases that went into effect Oct. 1.
The company says about half of its capacity dedicated to sun destinations has been sold this winter.
“If current trends hold, Transat expects its winter results to be better than last year,” Benoit Poirier, an analyst at Desjardins Securities said.
Fuel savings
Sharply lower jet fuel costs because of oil’s steep decline have helped keep package costs from rising more this winter at Transat and other tour operators, such as Sunwing and the vacation arms of Air Canada and WestJet.
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