"It's about a 20 percent increase," said Mark Teichman, president of Mark IV Travel in Society Hill. "In the last month, it has been almost zero, so anything is a plus."
Faye Kazanjian, an international manager at Travelco Inc., said the postwar increase in business was "not as big as we always hoped, but it's big enough to show us that there is a good outlook for the future."
But other travel agents said they are still waiting to feel the impact of the end of the war.
"Most of the companies that we deal with still have a freeze on international travel," said Jeannie Eleftherion, an office manager at Sampson Travel Agency. "People are just so uneasy."
She estimated that international bookings are down 85 percent from the same period last year.
Cigna is among the companies that have not lifted restrictions on international travel. A company spokeswoman said officials were still ''getting input from appropriate sources and looking at each individual trip on an individual basis."
Although travel to European destinations is still below normal, travel agents report a surge in vacationers who want to take advantage of special deals being offered on cruise lines and in the Carribbean. Some tourists also are being attracted to lower air fares abroad. For example, many major carriers are charging $318 round trip between Philadelphia and such cities as London, Paris and Amsterdam.
"International flights were down, but we're certainly coming back," said Roberta Gray, a manager at Liberty Travel Inc.
