As the US-Iran conflict today reaches the six-month mark, members of AITO – The Specialist Travel Association are reporting a marked rebound in bookings and consumer confidence following several challenging months earlier this year when many travellers delayed their holiday plans.
Feedback from specialist tour operators across a range of destinations and sectors suggests that the hesitation seen between March and June is now giving way to renewed demand. AITO Members are reporting stronger conversion rates, a return to more normal booking patterns and exceptional forward sales for late 2026 and 2027.
AITO’s Executive Director Martyn Sumners said: “There is no question that uncertainty surrounding the Middle East conflict affected consumer confidence earlier this year. People hesitated, postponed decisions and waited to see how events would develop.
“What is extremely encouraging is that confidence appears to be returning at speed for AITO Members. We are hearing about a best-ever August, record-breaking 2027 forward sales, high-value late bookings and conversion rates returning towards normal levels.
“Specialist travel is proving remarkably resilient. Rather than abandoning their plans, many customers appear simply to have delayed planning. The strength of advance bookings is particularly encouraging for AITO’s specialist members, whose customers frequently book complex, experience-led holidays well in advance.
“Reports from AITO Members suggests that travellers continue to prioritise distinctive, experience-rich holidays, with particularly strong demand being reported for expert-led cultural travel, wildlife holidays and specialist long-haul itineraries. It’s an encouraging indication that 2027 could prove a particularly strong year for specialist travel.”
Booking insights from AITO Members:
Peter Sommer, Owner, Peter Sommer Travels, AITO’s 2026 Tour Operator of the Year, said: “While our bookings were negatively hit for 2026 because of the Middle East conflict and related uncertainties, our bookings for 2027 are record breaking with passenger numbers 46% higher than last year – the highest we’ve had for the 24 years that we have been operating. We’re delighted that it looks as if people are keen to book ahead and plan their travels so early and are already looking forward to many great adventures in 2027.”
Susie de Carteret, Founder of Tasmanian Odyssey, said: “Last minute, high yield bookings for 2026 are continuing to surge after several months of significantly dampened interest between March and June – current projections suggest that our end of year profit for 2026 will finish approximately 35% up year on year. Forward bookings for the first half of 2027, which were also significantly down earlier this year, are now back on track with previous years.”
Felicia Severns, Managing Director at Odyssey World, said: “After experiencing a general reduction of around 50% of regular sales between April-June, the tone and conversation has changed dramatically. We are finding that clients are less anxious about rising costs and fuel surcharges and our booking patterns and conversion has returned to almost normal.”
Sara Frost, Marketing Manager at wildlife specialist Naturetrek said: “We’ve had positive news with our best-ever August for bookings. Customers have been holding off on booking and are now feeling more confident to go ahead.
Taken together, the experiences of AITO’s specialist operators suggest that the disruption earlier in the year may have resulted in delayed rather than permanently lost demand. Customers are returning to the market and, importantly, looking ahead to 2027 by booking their holidays with an AITO specialist operator.
