By Blake Haas

BLOOMINGTON – With the first COVID-19 vaccines administered this week, travel could soon be on the rise due to pent up demand, according to a Bloomington travel agent.

Tim Davis with Direct Travel said cruise ships are moving back into position, showing travel is slowly coming back.

“I think every week that goes by, if not every day, but certainly every week as the vaccine rolls out and as they get better and more efficient and line folks up and work out the priorities and so on, I think it’s very positive news. It’s going to provide some momentum going into the new year. Yeah, we’re not going to realize it all on January 1, but it’s going to continue to build and be a bright, positive news story for us as we get past this by the end of the first quarter.”

Davis told WJBC’s Marc Strauss that travel could pick up come the second quarter of 2021.

“I know Princess cruises are talking about their first cruise starting maybe April 4, everything is fluid, but that’s their targeted date. Their moving their ships in different positions. There’s one that just got into position in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this week, and it will sit there for a while, but they are again starting to get their ships back into areas wherein a short period of time, they’ll be able to run a few cruises with staff.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention labels cruise ships as “high-risk” and recommends that all people avoid cruise ships.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].