Tour operators face double-digit rate increases in 2025: Travel Weekly

Citing double-digit rate increases in 2025 for hotels, restaurants, motorcoaches and air travel, tour operator members of the National Tour Association (NTA) said that higher prices was the main challenges in building their multiday itineraries. 

In a survey conducted this month, the operators said that due to the rate increases, they have raised prices, changed the timing and locations of their tours and canceled some altogether.

Catherine Prather, National Tour Association president.

More than half of NTA tour operator members (54%) expect their company to perform better next year than in 2024, with 14% of them saying much better and 39% expecting to see a similar amount of business. Only 7% expect a drop-off in bookings next year.

But asked about the main challenges, tour operators said higher rates was the most serious factor they face, followed closely by unfavorable terms. Staffing shortages among suppliers and concerns about the overall economy were the next two biggest issues. 

“Pricing is the No. 1 challenge for operators,” said Catherine Prather, NTA president. “Before Covid, a normal year-over-year increase for supplier rates was 5%, and now, four years past Covid, tour operators are experiencing rate increases more than double that figure, and, in some categories, even close to tripling it.”

Tour operator price increases

In response to higher prices, most operators (88%) said they have increased the price of their tours, and nearly half (48%) said they have changed the timing of a tour to get better rates or terms. Nearly two-thirds of responding operators (65%) said that high rates, unfavorable terms, or both have led them to change suppliers in a destination and almost half (47%) have changed to a different destination that provides a similar experience. 

Many operators (44%) say they have dropped a tour altogether because of high rates or unfavorable terms. Hotels was the category tour operators cited as most challenging to do business with, followed only slightly by restaurants, motorcoaches and air travel.

Despite the challenges, most (58%) NTA member tour operators said their company will finish 2024 with sales that are better or much better than last year, while 17% said their sales will have declined. 

Staffing levels and finding qualified employees remain an issue for tour operators, with 47% reporting that their current staffing level is either equal to or ahead of 2019, and another 30% saying they are operating with somewhere between 75% and 99% of 2019 staffing levels.