The 2017 peaks are almost upon us and all travel firms will have pretty much completed their preparations for what they hope will be a bumper sales period.
It does highlight the sort of challenges all travel firms are facing from global economic and political forces they can’t control, but can only take steps to mitigate.
In recent years surcharges all but disappeared because of stricter rules to regulate their use and historically low fuel prices.
However, they remain a perfectly legal way for travel firms to cope with an unexpected rise in costs, such as that caused by the pound’s slump against the euro following the June Brexit referendum.
Given the understandable outcry caused by asking customers who have already paid to cough up more, I don’t expect surcharges to make a widespread comeback.
Prices are likely rise but, as the Travel Weekly Insight annual industry report predicted, 25 million adults will take at least one overseas holiday next year.
Clearly, the economic and political difficulties we’ve seen emerge in 2016 aren’t simply going to go away just because we enter a new 12-month period in just under a month’s time.
But a slew of inspirational, turn-of-year advertising campaigns, many of which we are starting to get sneak previews of, will infuse the industry with a fresh sense of purpose.
Let’s hope we can ride that wave of optimism for as long as possible.