Delta (DAL) CEO Ed Bastian shared that while the outlook for the travel season is strong, it may not be as great as originally planned.
Hopper lead economist Hayley Berg joins Catalysts to discuss how travelers are likely to shift their travel destinations this summer, with economic headwinds influencing where people go and how they spend.
To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Wealth here.
Since it's fresh here this morning with Delta's earnings, I want to play for you just a quick sound bite of what Delta CEO Ed Bastian had to say to us about what they're seeing in the outlook, and we'll get your reaction on the other side.
You know, I, I, again, I, I want to be cautious because this is early April, and we, we know the level uncertain we have is, is a bit unprecedented. Uh, so I, I would say that, you know, at the present time, it's shaping up to be, to be a strong, not a great, uh, season. Uh, great would be the plan that we have, which is 7% growth for the year. Uh, I think our, our revenue, I, I, the word I best describe our revenue at the present time across the borders, solid.
Haley, with that in mind, how does this potentially mean that consumers may shift where they're deciding their destination is going to be during the travel season?
You know, what we've seen historically is that during times of economic headwinds or times of higher prices, consumers don't eliminate their travel expenditure. They typically just approach that expenditure a little bit differently. They might trade out one destination for another. Uh, during the 2007 to 2008 or nine time of economic downturn, we saw travelers taking fewer trips, but spending a little bit more on each of those trips. So, I agree that I think we'll continue to see demand for travel into this summer. How people approach what they're booking and what they're prioritizing in terms of expenditure, that's where we might begin to see shifts if families are thinking differently about their entire budget, not just their travel budget.
So as we're thinking about those destinations, where are you seeing the best deals start to emerge for this summer?
This summer, we're definitely seeing low prices in destinations where there's a lot of competition from airlines and entry of low cost carriers. Portugal is a great example. It's one destination that has been hot for a couple of years, but continues to offer a really great deal, low cost to get there, and once you're there in country, food, lodging, all a little less expensive. So definitely deals internationally, and then of course domestically, continuing to see great deals to destinations that Americans love to visit like those in Florida, California, and many of the national parks as well.
