Travel Industry Keeps Wary Watch As Oil Prices Rise Again

As gasoline prices at the pump reached an average of $2.43 across the nation by the end of May — a weekly increase of about 12 cents and a 76-cent jump since the first of the year — some in the travel industry were worried that this summer could become a repeat of 2008, when fuel prices reached historic highs.

Those fears only intensified as crude oil futures broke the $60-per-barrel mark.

Many industry and energy analysts predict that fuel prices will continue to rise, possibly even enough to force airlines and cruise lines to consider restoring fuel surcharges to ticket prices.

Yet analysts and economists do not expect a spike like 2008’s run-up, simply because the unusual convergence of economic and other issues that conspired to inflate fuel prices last summer does not exist this year.

"As with any other market or event, nothing is ever the same way twice," said Joe Duarte, an economic analyst, author and financial adviser.

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