Customers who cancel lose their $250 deposits, Hoffee said, which is not a steep loss for those who have not made final payments and have purchased the line's travel insurance, which includes a cancel-for-any-reason policy. Collette has also experienced mass cancellations for Egypt and Jordan. "The cancellation rate is in the 30-40% range for our near-term departures," said Jeff Roy, executive vice president of revenue management, pricing and worldwide operations for Collette.
Roy added that the war has negatively impacted travel bookings beyond Egypt and Jordan, slowing down fourth-quarter bookings overall. Roy said there was a noticeable falloff after October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel to spark the war. "We're getting a lot of activity on the website, just a lot less conversion right now. So it seems like people are still shopping a lot," Roy said.
Not only has the war affected bookings, it has increased concern about terror attacks, which have historically depressed bookings for months after an incident, not only in the country where it happened but sometimes an entire region. According to USTOA's annual survey of active members, terrorism is their third-highest concern; it was at the bottom of the list of concerns last year at this time. The top two concerns for USTOA members are economic uncertainty and cost of living increases.
