Our panelists analyzed the market conditions in May 2021 in the US, UK, and EU and concluded:

• Travelers from the US are ready to travel now. Demand for this summer (June, July, August) is high and reservations for 2022 and beyond are filling up. Currently, demand for Fall/Winter 2021 is soft.
• Last minute deals will be very important in 2021 as travelers wait to confirm that they will be allowed to travel.
• If the Ecuadorian government would drop the requirement of PCR tests for vaccinated travelers (currently required before entering to Ecuador, and a second time before flying to Galapagos), then tourism to Ecuador would increase significantly.
• During May, 2021, between 1/3 and 1/2 of all Galapagos cruise operators are not answering the phone numbers or emails published on their websites.
• Only 28% of cruise operator websites provide cabin-level availability information which allows travelers to choose and confirm which trip they want and know the price. 44% have partial availability information, and 28% have no availability information whatsoever on their websites.  
• Nearly every company in the travel industry is currently understaffed. Massive layoffs accompanied COVID-19, and small teams must do everything. Operators and agents have to do more with less and be more efficient. 
• Demand may outpace supply for economical Galapagos cruises for much of 2021 due to small operators not accepting future reservations. Land-based tours may grow market share due to lack of economical cruise supply.
• Accessing future demand is a big challenge for operators, as it is very costly to operate a cruise with low occupancy. Some yachts are consolidating their passengers from multiple vessels into one.  
• Flight passenger and cargo capacity to the Islands is very limited with reduced flight frequencies and some operators not flying. Additional flights to San Cristobal and Baltra are needed urgently to accommodate demand of international tourists.