Local travel agents say they've been hit by the downturn in travel following September 11's attacks on New York and Washington, but each gave different verdicts on the extent of impact.

Judy Knight, manager at Adventure Travel, last week told The Royal Gazette, "(this is) the worst seen in our industry for a long time."

Ms Knight said: "In the first instance, it bottomed out on September 11 as it involved aircraft - and there were no flights for four days." Following that, Ms Knight said a lingering hesitation towards air travel has limited sales.

Ms Knight questioned how to convince someone to travel - when reluctance stems from a personal feelings on the safety of air travel.

Seat sales have helped, she added: "The last two days have been busier than the last two weeks."

Even though seat sales mean selling tickets at lower than normal fares - which affects commission amounts, Ms Knight said: "some business is better than no business."

Ms Knight said Adventure Travel manages because it has a small staff - three agents - with a fairly high volume of business. She added, however, that the agency has "trimmed the fat: we have not cut any jobs, but we have cut the extras. For instance we cut the cleaning service and we are now doing the cleaning ourselves," she said.

Ms Knight said she can't predict what lies ahead, but she does know the winter schedule, with its schedule of fewer flights, will dictate less business. She questioned - with the potential for tough economic times ahead - if there will be a further drop in business, as fewer may be able to afford to travel.

Carl Paiva, CEO of C Travel, said, "on all sides of the business; corporate and leisure - up to September 25 - business was almost frozen."

Mr. Paiva said the company is now back to normal levels of business, with steady advanced bookings for tours and cruises - even in to 2002. He said however, with advanced bookings, people are staying away from the Mediterranean - based on its proximity to the Middle East. Recently announced seat sales have also helped bring the sales volume up, he said.

Of corporate sales, this month, Mr. Paiva said: "that segment is getting back its focus, but the seat sales have undoubtedly generated much of the sales."

Mr. Paiva called Bermuda's consumers, "price-driven," and that with seat sales: "phones have been ringing off the hook."

Overall, the month of October, Mr. Paiva said, looks strong. He added that the company could weather September's short fall - in travel business - as it has diversified revenue streams, with a sister company; Wilson Associates, operating as a business management company.

Mr. Paiva said the administrative staff for C Travel has been able to do administrative work for Wilson Associates. "This means their are minimum administrative costs for agents to cover, on the travel side," he said.

If anything, the challenges following September 11, have forced the company to be "more creative," Mr. Paiva said, adding:"We have stepped up services that we can charge for, mostly through the business management side of our operation, which has taken on more accounts."

Mr. Paiva said the company with strategic planning is looking at the year ahead - and planning for any eventuality.

Of the company's outlook for the months ahead, Mr. Paiva said the biggest thing is the uncertainty of war, and how that may impact travel.

Meanwhile, Dianne Carlson, vice-president of sales and marketing at Meyer Travel, told The Royal Gazette, the company - as with other travel agencies - experienced 'tremendous' cancellations on corporate and leisure bookings following September 11.

Ms Carlson said business was looking up within the last week, with seat sales - which she said is motivating people to fly - and the company's exclusive one-way (cruise) sailings to or from Bermuda.

She added that one-way cruises were a Meyer promotion before the attacks, and that led to strong interest over recent weeks.

Ms Carlson said seat sales are coming from the carriers, and are not motivated by the Bermuda Government's waiving airport fees and other costs.

In addition, the company is seeing November and December bookings, to the east coast of the US - including New York, which has good hotel rates, at the moment - for holiday shopping.

Ms Carlson said indications from bookings are that people are once again comfortable with booking travel to New York.

Of corporate business, Ms Carlson said Meyer has found companies are only travelling as "absolutely necessary."

Even the increased volume of seat sale ticketing leaves Meyer Travel with a cash crunch, Ms Carlson said, as from the agency's point of view, the lost sales in September won't be made up, and lower seat sale fares - which were also in place during the Summer - mean lower sales commissions.

Ms Carlson said these issues are affecting travel agencies everywhere: "The bulk of revenue is from the airlines, but commissions keep getting cut. Agencies are trying not to pass more costs to the customers, but we are caught in a situation, where we have to look at that," she said.

There have been no staff cuts at Meyer Travel and Ms Carlson said: "We are trying desperately to keep all staff employed - although, we are looking at the future, and operating costs."

Deryn Higgins, owner of Global Travel in Flatt's said her agency was only directly affected during the week of the September 11 attack. She said the company has not really had any other down time and recent seat sales have provided an extra boost.

Speaking of lower commissions resulting from lower fares, Ms Higgins said that is something all agents have to deal with that. A plus, for her company, she said, was their small size - with only four agents.

"We are small, and that's what we have going for us," she said, "as our overhead is low."

The company has twice-daily delivery in to Hamilton, and Ms Higgins said she does not see not being located out of the city centre as a problem.

Ultimately, Ms Higgins said: "We are on an Island and people are going to travel."