Travel Talk: Is travel fully back?

While most sectors of the travel industry are enjoying a resurgence compared with the depths of the pandemic, is it accurate to say travel is “fully back”?

Northstar Travel Group’s editorial leaders share their answers to this question — and what it even means for their sectors (including travel tech, business travel, leisure, sports and meetings) to have fully rebounded.

Answers vary, whether one is looking at online bookings, innovation and investments, supplier/adviser revenue, trip volume, hotel occupancy or some other metric. But thanks to the wide adoption of virtual meetings and interactions, some aspects of the travel industry look unlikely to ever return to their pre-pandemic levels.

The panelists also share how recent rounds of layoffs and concerns about a potential recession might impact travel companies and choices around booking.

The Northstar thought leaders include:

Mary Pat Sullivan, executive vice president of marketing for Northstar Travel Group, and the panel’s moderator
Rebecca Tobin, managing editor, Travel Weekly
Eric Bowman, executive editor, TravelPulse
Kenneth Shapiro, publisher/editor in chief, TravelAge West
Jason Gewirtz, vice president, Sports Division, Northstar Meetings Group; executive editor and Publisher, SportsTravel
Elizabeth West, editorial director, BTN Group
Loren Edelstein, vce president, Content Director, Northstar Meetings Group
Mitra Sorrells, editor in chief, PhocusWire