Destination Travel Trends How school break shifts impacted occupancy during the December 2022 holidays.

It’s long been understood that most households with school age children plan their vacations around two criteria:

1. Where their children want to go.
2. When their children are available to go.

From a destination supplier perspective, that’s a lot of power in little hands. And while your marketing outreach can influence the location, their availability is in the hands of a disinterested third-party, namely school administrators.

Back in May 2022 our School Calendar Explorer subscribers saw that there were roughly 35% fewer households with K-12 students available to travel in the weeks before Christmas 2022 compared to 2021. And that’s exactly how it played out with occupancy being down anywhere from 11.5% to 20.9% across that same stretch of days. The reverse was also true. The data showed that more K-12 students were out in the first week of January and occupancy followed. Based on recent headlines and issues at resorts, however, it appears many operators were flying blind when they made decisions around their products, blackout days, staffing, and rates.

School breaks shift every year. And, every year, occupancy volume shifts with them. Even though the December holidays are behind us, it’s no time to rest on your laurels. We’re seeing many YOY and mid-season shifts in school breaks around Spring break, Easter, Presidents’ Day, and even the last day of school. If you haven’t already, take some time to make sure you know what your market is doing before it’s too late to adjust.

P.S. – And if you want some help, a spring School Calendar Explorer license is $600. Just use code DSCX23D at checkout and you’ll have full access to the database until the end of the school year.