Plan Early for Summer Family Travels

Now is the time to make family travel plans for summer. All signs point to heavy demand as COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease and families feel safer traveling. Along with high demand for hotels, you can expect a lot of other places, such as theme parks and zoos, to require advance reservations. Attractions will still be conscious of avoiding crowds in indoor settings.

Expect there to be a lot more interest in parks and outdoor activities. We learned that last summer, when national parks like Maine’s Acadia had to set limits on the number of cars on their scenic drives in order to prevent traffic jams at the most popular spots. Lakeside and beach cottage rentals were sold out in most places by mid-May last year, and hotel rooms in popular destinations were scarce.

The Maine Tourism Association advises visitors to reserve early, reporting hotels across the state are already seeing earlier bookings this year, especially for the prime months of July and August. WeNeedaVacation, a locally operated booking site for short-term vacation rentals on Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, reports bookings and inquiries exceed those of any previous year.

We can expect international tourism to boom this summer, too, with all that pent-up urge to travel. Vacation rental sites for Europe already report summer bookings at 20 percent above last year’s early bookings and bookings for fall up by 48 percent.

Staffing shortages continue to affect airlines, so fewer flights mean early reservations are important there, too. Many airlines allow last-minute changes or cancellations, so be sure to ask if you’re concerned about locking into expensive plans in the face of uncertainty.