Foreign Trips Being Curtailed

The nation’s travel and tourism industry, already reeling from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is facing a fresh round of uncertainty now that the U.S. retaliation has begun.

International travel appears most vulnerable, with some California tour operators reporting Monday the weekend bombings prompted them to scuttle trips to foreign destinations, and some would-be travelers headed overseas have decided to stay put.

At least two cancellations were waiting Monday morning for Ricci Zukerman, who runs six travel agencies in Southern California for Worldview Travel. In both cases, the destinations were not what Zukerman would have deemed “risky”--an indication the U.S. military strikes have shaken some fence sitters.

“I had a woman cancel her honeymoon to Hawaii, and another couple canceled a cruise to the Panama Canal,” said Zukerman. “It came down to them being just plain nervous, uncertain.”

Although overseas travel continues to stumble, there are signs the domestic trade is finding its footing. U.S. air traffic is strengthening, with Los Angeles International Airport reporting especially busy loads. And U.S. hotels are seeing a rebound in occupancy and revenue.

“I think October is going to be a decent month, even with the bombing” of Afghanistan, said Rolfe Shellenberger, a Palm Desert-based travel consultant with Runzheimer International. “Still, there is a natural slowdown that comes with uncertainty.”

That uncertainty is greatest in the realm of overseas travel, with foreign visitors avoiding trips here and U.S. citizens opting to stay close to home. On Sunday, the State Department issued a “worldwide caution” informing Americans the bombing campaign in Afghanistan “may result in strong anti-American sentiment and retaliatory actions against U.S. citizens” around the globe.

Although the announcement was not on the level of “warning,” in which the State Department recommends Americans avoid travel, it was enough to convince some travelers and tour operators to scuttle planned overseas trips.

On Monday, Palo Alto-based tour operator Peter Voll scrapped a Saudi Arabian excursion planned for this month. About half the 17-member group had already canceled after the events of Sept. 11. Voll said some of the remaining travelers were eager to continue. But Sunday’s events convinced him otherwise.

“We were hanging on because people wanted to go,” said Voll, head of Peter Voll Associates, which specializes in tours for educational and alumni groups. The bombing and State Department warning “was kind of like the final straw. It just doesn’t seem like the prudent thing to do.”

On Monday, tour operator Janet Moore, president of Long Beach-based Distant Horizons, was likewise trying to decide whether to proceed with a Saudi Arabian tour.

“It’s really a difficult call,” Moore said. “ . . . I’m trying to get a clear and realistic picture of what is safe and what isn’t.”

At Montrose Travel, President Joe McClure said business and leisure travel abroad continues to show weakness, although he said he was encouraged by the recovery in overall bookings he was seeing before the weekend’s military attacks.

Although the cancellations received Monday were not unusually heavy, McClure said it would take a week or so to really see what travelers would do. “People were just starting to return to normal and now there’ll be a short setback but it won’t be significant,” McClure said. “We knew [the military strikes] were coming. It wasn’t a surprise.”

Although foreign travel remains a question mark, there were some positive signs in the domestic travel market. After plunging as much as 45% immediately after Sept. 11, U.S. hotel room revenue rebounded strongly in the third week after the attacks, according to Smith Travel Research.

Occupancy rates at hotels owned by Hilton Hotels Corp., for example, stood at 66% on Oct. 3. That’s the highest since Sept. 11 and up from a low of 29% on Sept. 16, according to the Beverly Hills-based company.

Over the weekend in Las Vegas, hotel rooms averaged 97% occupancy, according to Kevin Bagger, senior research analyst with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Meanwhile, the major carriers--including American Airlines, United Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines--flew normal schedules and reported nationwide passenger traffic did not decline in response to the military action Sunday and Monday.

United’s load factors--the percentage of its seats that were filled--were “comparable to what they were prior to Sunday,” in the 50% to 60% range, said United spokesman Joe Hopkins. Northwest likewise said its average flight took off about 55% to 60% full.

Traffic was even busier at LAX on Monday, with some flights about 75% filled and long lines of passengers spilling outside of terminals, said LAX spokesman Paul Haney.

Foreign airlines also reported few disruptions after the military strikes. Carriers such as British Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways said they were running normal schedules.

Times staff writers James F. Peltz and E. Scott Reckard contributed to this report. Reuters and Bloomberg News were also used.