The price of travel packages is an increasingly critical issue for travellers, as the industry struggles to maintain a healthy business model.
In the wake of the Zika virus pandemic, many travellers are being forced to make the difficult decision between buying cheap flights or resorting to the long-term costs of buying tickets.
Some travellers are opting for the latter, with online travel booking platform TripAdvisor saying last week that travellers diarrhea is costing it $400 a month in travel fees.
Travelers diarrhea is the cost of getting a flight to a destination in the US, Australia or Canada.
While travellers diarrhea may sound expensive, the reality is that it is a relatively small price to pay for a trip, according to TripAdvisers CEO Mark R. Lewis.
He explained the reasoning behind the price increase on TripAdvisors website.
“We believe that travelers diarrhea costs $400 to $600 per month depending on where you’re from, and this is a result of the travel industry’s poor business model,” Lewis wrote.
“This is why we made our decision to increase the price of trips to $300 to $400, and to give travellers diarrhea a new lease on life.”
Lewis said TripAdvocates would continue to add flights, and the company has plans to expand its product offerings in the coming weeks.
“I think we’re going to continue to do more of these travel deals with our partners and we’re really excited about that,” Lewis said.
“The best part of this is that travelers are paying for it.”
Lewis added that TripAds customer service team is constantly working on improving the platform.
“In addition to the pricing increase, we have added additional flight options and travel packages, including a travel package to London that lets you travel to London for $100,” he said.
“We’re also adding a number of new travel packages to the website, and we have a number more coming soon.”
