Sven-Olof Lindblad, CEO of Lindblad Expeditions, said that the company expects occupancy to be up in 2023 year-on-year, speaking during the company’s second quarter earnings call.
He did say, however, it is not yet in the company’s historical level (90 percent) as second quarter occupancy came in below 2022 at 74 percent, attributed to additional shoulder season inventory and cancellations in Peru.
“Some of the headwinds still remains such that the inordinate amount of large-scale discounting we are seeing in the marketplace as new entrants trying to gain market share, a practice that has absolutely no chance of success in the long run,” Lindblad said.
“This is not the first time we have seen this dynamic across the industry. And as we have in the past, we will maintain our commitment to high yields given the experiences we provide,” he continued.
“Other headwinds are starting to wane, cancellations, for example, while still slightly elevated from 2019 levels and moving in the right direction every week as travelers get more comfortable coming out of the pandemic and as we have updated our cancellation policies.”