Italy's Cinque Tele is a heat layer. Ireland in the constant rain. For decades, I have been restricting most of my travels in Europe. Because no matter the weather, I enjoyed the feeling of having a hotel, a trail, a restaurant, or a cathedral.
But I am not alone this year.
From European resort towns to popular summer destinations in the US, places that once emptied by October are now full of guests. Booking.com reported significant growth in searching for traditional beach trips such as Hampton. This was an increase of 78% year-on-year in September and 45% in October. According to Expedia, searches for rooms in Dublin have increased by 35% in the summer fall, with Virtuoso, a consortium of high-end travel agents, saying bookings have risen by 30% this fall.
Fairmont hotels in the US, Canada and the Caribbean are occupied during the shoulder season – fall and spring have almost doubled since 2019. Omer Acar, CEO of Raffles and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, is looking to seek travel based on remote work, the music and event travel boom, and “passing in contrast to seasonality.”
“New Summer”
The fall surge has earned some credit to the wider travel boom. Last year, 1.4 billion people traveled internationally, up to 673 million people in 2000, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
With more people looking for better access and fewer crowds, “the offseason is now their own season,” said Jared Sternberg, president and founder of Gondwana Ecotours, which offers nature-focused tours.
Of course, growth reduces the deals that were once rewarded for getting paid, rather than bunching up and swimming for a walk on the beach in Cannes. Dollar Flight Club, a platform for raising airfares for sale, has found that autumn prices for European flights have been rising since 2022. In Portland, Maine, canopies by the Hilton Portland Waterfront Hotel offer October rates within $50 for the peak season in July and August. At Envoyage, a network of travel agents, the advisors sold the October-December Line River Cruises at prices equal to or greater than those charged from May-September.
“Autumn is a new summer in Newport,” said Annie Jasinski, director of marketing and communications at Chanra, Cliffwalk Hotel in Newport, Roadli, doubled room rates from 2023 to 2024 in September and October.
The impact of climate change and tourism
At some destinations, climate change encourages autumn travel by extending mild weather. In the French Riviera, when it is at a low average in the September-80s, it is as busy as August. This year, the luxury cruise line Silver Sea announced its year-round voyages in the Mediterranean. In the Italian Alps, early snowfalls have led to the Grand Hotel Kurmaiur Mont Blanc remaining open for the first time, rather than closing in mid-September and reopening for the ski season in December.
“We've seen a lot of fun and fun,” said Chiara Borghi, marketing manager for R Collection Hotels, the resort's operator.
Travelers fleeing their overheated hometown have driven autumn bookings at Nemo Bay in British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest. Originally a fishing lodge only in the summer, the resort has transitioned to a six-month season over the past decade. Wildlife monitoring, paddling, cooking and wellness offerings are free of fall discounts along with Coho salmon fly fishing.
“Nemo Bay recognizes that this fall has its own special magic and charm and doesn't feel the need to discount the rates guests around the world agree to,” said Fraser Murray, owner of Nemo Bay.
Fallout from overtourism, including shoulder-to-shoulder summer crowds at places such as anti-tourism protests in Venice, Dubrovnik, Croatia and Spain, has urged some travelers to delay their departures until the end of the year.
To ease the pressure, sustainability-oriented operators like brave travel defend shoulder seasons. This year, autumn bookings in Italy have increased by more than 25%, introducing travel to fewer travel destinations such as Uzbekistan and Romania.
While taking long vacations during the return to school season remains a challenge for many families, travel industry experts are celebrating the changing work patterns after the pandemic, including more flexible work policies, which include more flexible work policies to introduce the joys of fall travel to travelers.
“Travelers are no longer tied to school calendars and 9-to-5 routines,” said Melissa Kruger, chief executive of Classic Vacations, a San Jose, California-based travel agency.
Leaf, harvest, salmon runs
Color tours and harvest events – enduring autumn charm – have long been an inspiration. Leaf fans can catch the changing spectrum of the Shikachi Valley, outside Chattanooga, Tennessee, at a rate nearly 15% above the summer average at Bolt Farm Tree House, a collection of tree houses, mirrored cabins and geodesic domes. In the Alentejo region of Portugal, autumn traffic appears in summer traffic driven by autumn harvests, olive oil presses and mushroom foraging.
A growing awareness of lesser known natural phenomena, such as elk ruts in the western United States and spawning corals in the Southern Caribbean, has contributed to fall spikes. The Alaska Fat Bear Competition at Katmai National Park is becoming so popular that one outfitter offers a series of outfitters for photographing the telegenic grizzlies inflated with fall salmon runs.
Still, people travel for countless reasons – for example, visits to the Bucket List Museum or Spasplage, which has nothing to do with the weather. In Kennebyankport, Maine, guests at non-antum resorts can now be quarantined in a floating sauna on the Kennebunk River that encouraged autumn bookings before the resort's seasonal closure in December.
In the Colorado Rockies, Aspen has lost nearly 30 days of skiing since 1980 due to climate change. But with the exception of a season that is around a few weeks, Aspen is constantly busy thanks to events, hot visitors and savvy marketing.
“You want to run your business all year round,” said Dave Tanner, chief executive of Aspen Wang, the parent company of ski areas and other ventures. “No one wants to be late in terms of profit and management.”
Getting visitors to come during off-peak hours often requires new incentives. Opened in 2011 on a schedule from October to October, Brush Creek Ranch raises Wagu cattle and offers 89 rooms on 30,000 acres in Saratoga, Wyomio. Demand is strong enough, and for the first time this year it will remain open from October to December. “We knew we had to make the ranch sustainable,” said Mike Williams, executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Supporting workers with stable employment should benefit users with more seasoned services. North Fork Table & Inn, located on the eastern edge of Long Island in New York, was more profitable last October than in July after restaurants and four-room hotels expanded from their summer schedule. “By providing more annual employment, we attracted more local staff, reduced housing needs and built a reliable core team,” said chef and owner John Fraser.
This year, Travel's growing autumn frenzy has pushed European visits beyond October into the grey month of November.
“October is no longer a whispering secret among knowledgeable travelers,” said Analita Aplea, director of sales and marketing at the Casa Angelina Hotel on the Amalfi coast of Italian crowds. “It took its place with confidence as a crown jewel of the year,” she said.
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