Travel During Pandemic? 10 Travel & Tourism Trends to Rule the Future

If you planning to travel during the pandemic, think again! It is not going to be the same as before. The wound inflicted by the pandemic on the travel industry is really deep. The Corona scare has devastated the economies around the world with the travel and tourism sector being affected the most. This sector is near a standstill and we are not sure when will it restart. Like other sectors, travel and tourism are also going under radical metamorphosis to meet the challenges posed by “New Normal”. 

With lockdown restrictions easing out, we all are curious to know how and when we are able to travel again? Whether using airlines will be safe or taking a staycation at your favourite resort be the same as before? And above all what will the future of Travel?

A road trip to Jim Corbett National Park or nearest hill station for a week-long vacation at a highly sanitized rental property nearby as recommended by travel advisors. The Travel plan Sounds good, right? 

Let’s sneak into the future to predict new travel trends which will rule the future and how the Travel during the Pandemic seems like.

New Travel & Tourism Trends which will Rule the Future & Are Ruling the Travel During Pandemic

1. Domestic Travel will precede International Travel & Tourism

Travel recovery will begin locally as travellers planning a holiday or a vacation will venture out closer to home to start with. They will prefer travelling domestically, and staying local at their weekend getaways before thinking of international travel in the future. As they say:

‘India will become Incredible Again”.

International travel will probably take more than six months before it starts recovering and will be back only once Corona Vaccine will be available. International travel will be initially happening between countries that are corona free destinations. For example, India is planning to create Travel Bubbles with some countries which are less affected by COVID-19. Nearby countries will be the more preferred choice when international travel begins. So if you are planning to travel during the pandemic, travel only domestic to start with.

2. Classic Road Trip will be in fashion again

Yes, there will be quicker recovery for drive-to destinations. People are not really sure what will happen when they will take flights but they are more sure that they will have more control. They will feel safer while driving to their favourite weekend getaway in their own car and renting their own space. People will look to travel closer to home for vacations. Car rental companies may also flourish provided they assure the customers of deep cleaning and sanitization after each use or even keeping the car idle for 24 hours after each use.

3. Air Travel may become dearer especially for travel during pandemic

Flights have to reconfigure their seating system to accommodate social distancing norms, which definitely means fewer people boarding the flight. This definitely leads to aviation companies aiming for more revenue per seat. The new health and safety standards will mean more detailed deep cleaning & sanitisation, procuring more masks, gloves, disposables, disinfectants, and thermometers, retraining of airline staff etc will have an impact on the cost of operations. 

4. Vacation Homes will be preferred over Big Hotels

Private rental homes will definitely be preferred overcrowded hotels as they pose more risk. 

• People will choose their trusted brands or vacation homes based on their trust in their hygiene systems and sanitization protocols.
• People will look for properties that are centrally located as they will be able to walk than take risky public transportation to commute.
• Hotels or properties with minimal touchpoints like online check-in, digital bookings will be preferred
• Key Cards, Bollywood nights, and Buffet breakfast will things of past. People will prefer room service.
• Properties amidst nature, away from crowded places with good hygiene ratings will also boom.
• Also while looking for Airbnb hosts and hotels online you may see the hotels and vacation homes being marked “COVID Safe” like -‘Sanitized, highly clean, COVID-friendly’ — a lot of things like that to basically signal to their customers that they are a safe location.

5. Luxury hotels may be more affordable

People hit hard by the economic crisis thrown by COVID-19, will look for value for money options and luxury hotel chains will have few takers at least in the short term. Luxury hotel chains may want to attract their customer and promote tourism by 

• Dropping their room rents
• Offering freebies like a free meal for kids, free spa for couples, free pickup & drop services for example. 

This is more true as people will postpone any non-essential travel, or will try to increase their savings and curtail expenditure. 

6. Sanitisation will be the prime in Travel & Tourism

There will certainly be a sharp emphasis on hygiene and cleanliness of the property as the customers will make their booking decision based on

• New hygiene standards
• Digital reservation and minimal human contact and touchpoints
• Social distancing across common areas
• Health check-ups of guests at the entrance or check-in
• Customer Reviews online especially pertaining to hygiene safety

7. Flexibility in Travel and Cancellation Polices will make tourism easier

Considering uncertainties of the future ahead the travel industry is going to make it much easy for travellers to book their next trip at least in the short term. It will be now possible to 

• book a trip with open tickets, 
• postpone  or reschedule your travel, 
• cancel your bookings and get a full refund or 
• transfer it to friends and family 

This new flexibility in travel, bookings, and cancellation policies will play a major role in the future of our travel plans. 

8. Travel Insurance will become Essential in Travel and Tourism and for Travel during Pandemic

The post-COVID world will have a greater need for and acceptance for travel insurance, which was often shunned by travellers before. They will now understand the importance of travel insurance and how could it possibly help them. 

9. The Role of Travel Advisors will more important

The rise of online booking & reservations had hit travel agents and travel advisors real hard since the advent of the Internet. But the recent troubles and inconvenience that many of us faced in recent times due to global disruptions caused by COVID-19 have opened our eyes.  If anyone booked without a travel advisor during this period, they learned that they should have. Trying to call the airlines for rescheduling, flight status, cancellation suddenly became a herculean task as phone lines were jammed and it had taken 2 -3 business days to get in touch with them. The mayhem and chaos were imminent. Travel advisors and agents are our first point of contact in case of any emergency in such a scenario and their role is certainly going up in the future of travel and tourism.

10. Family Holidays will be take precedence 

Lockdown has possibly given us enough food for thought- like people in your life are the most important thing to focus upon and that we want to spend our time, energy, and money on our favourite people. We also could not take our family time vacations or summer vacations due to lockdown. Naturally, post-COVID-19, family travel with loved ones, and close friends might be the new next big thing happening in the travel and tourism industry.

Also Read: Reasons You Should Travel More Often – My Life Lessons

For more posts on ‘Future Trends Post-Lockdown’ Read on – How Eating Out at your favourite Restaurants Post-Lockdown will look like? and A Sneak Peek into how the Post Lockdown Offices will look like