MARCH 2023

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“After 9/11 people were afraid to
travel, so it was slow even when we
came back,” said Bajoka. “This one
we were shut down and as soon as
the pandemic got easier, people
started traveling. They were like,
‘please get us out of here.’”
Bajoka said credits were extended
until the end of 2023, contributing
to the high demand this year.
Demand remains high even though
credits reflect the purchase price
of airfare before the pandemic and
customers have to absorb the increase
since COVID, although some
downscaled their destinations.
Fishman compared the travel
industry’s experience to that of
the much-publicized struggles
restaurants faced. Restaurants
had it bad during the pandemic,
but if they had the same experience
that travel agencies did, they
would have had to “take the food
back for every meal they served
for the past six months, un-prepare
the food, put the raw ingredients
on the shelf, get the money back
from the customers, and not talk about
food for the next six months to a year.”
Because travel is booked six to
eight months in advance, not a few
Amira Boka in Israel (left) and with a tour group in the Middle East.
days in advance like going out to dinner,
travel agency employees were
working to get payments back to customers
without being able to book and
receive revenue for future travel.
Despite the challenges and his 40
years at the helm of Cadillac Travel
Group, Fishman said he never considered
retirement. He didn’t want a COV-
ID-created departure to be his legacy.
He also didn’t want to leave his 22 employees
in a bind.
Looking Ahead
The future looks promising for the
travel industry. Bajoka said she
books a lot of group travel and
her typical booking of one or two
30-person groups for destinations
in Israel has ballooned to three
groups of 40, with waiting lists. She
said many of the hotels she works
with in Israel and Europe are advising
her to make bookings for 2024
and 2025, before they fill up.
All of this exploding demand
for travel comes amid not only
continued high prices but understaffed
facilities and poorly
trained service workers. Bajoka
and Fishman spoke of long airport
lines and diminished service quality
throughout the travel industry,
including tour operators, cruise
lines, and car rental companies.
Another thing they agree on is
that buying travel services online
is a risk that many refuse to take,
especially in the aftermath of the
COVID pandemic. It seems there
is nothing like using an agency that
has direct relationships with hoteliers,
airline representatives, and others on
the destination end of travel plans.
Just in case.
MARCH 2023 CHALDEAN NEWS 37