The coronavirus has changed almost every single aspect of our daily lives: how we work, how we get around, how we learn, and what we eat. Now that we’re months into this pandemic, with no clear end in sight, many of us are considering the long-term implications of the virus on our globalized world.
For us avid travellers, it’s forcing us to rethink this entire industry from the way we fly, the way we dine, how we wait in line — even how we go to the beach.
2020 was supposed to be the travel industry’s most profitable year. Now, airline stock is plummeting, cruise ships are looking more unappealing than ever, many small travel businesses are unlikely to recover from the economic loss, and the future of Airbnb looks incredibly bleak.
I’ve been beginning to think a lot about what a post-pandemic travel industry might look like.
What will be the impact of COVID-19 on the travel industry? How will tourism respond to this disruption? What will travel look like in a post-pandemic world?
Nobody knows the answers to these questions. But today, I wanted to try to offer some of my own thoughts and insights from working in the travel industry for the last few years. These are only my own speculations. As you know, the coronavirus is evolving rapidly, and its course is unknown – even more unknown is how humans will respond to it – so there is no real way to say for sure what travel will look like on the other side of this.
Click to read: How to support small tourism businesses without travelling during COVID-19
With all this uncertainty, it’s impossible to know what travel will look like on the other side of this, but I for one, think it will look very, very different.
As long as we’re able to, travelers will continue to travel. We may just go about it a little bit differently in a post-pandemic world. Click To TweetWe’ll see an increase in local travel
While people will definitely be eager to get out of the homes they’ve been quarantined in for months at the end of this pandemic, most won’t be quite ready to jump on an international flight and risk being sick or stranded in a foreign country. Rather, many people will seek out local adventures that will give them an opportunity to quench their thirst for exploration without pushing them too far outside of their comfort zone.
Less popular destinations may see an increase in visitors
Travelers will be hyperaware of their vulnerability to the virus once travel opens up again and be more likely to take into account the chances of being exposed to the virus in different destinations. Many may feel safer in lesser-known cities where they’re less likely to encounter large crowds. Many major cities were hotspots of the coronavirus outbreak (ie. New York City). We may see a dramatic drop in tourism to these usually highly-tourist-trafficked cities, as travellers opt for locations that are quieter and less crowded.
People will be more likely to book direct flights
Not that anyone was seeking out connecting flights in the first place, but we may see people dishing out the extra cash to avoid an extra plane, an extra airport, and an extra opportunity for virus transmission.
Companies will be offering ridiculously cheap travel packages
The tourism industry will be desperate to fill empty airplanes, cruise ships, and hotels when travel first opens up and so we’re likely to see really great deals offered in the first few months of travel re-opening, as we did following the SARS outbreak.
However, it’s important that we don’t turn to mass tourism to solve this problem. Overtourism has caused serious problems for destinations all over the world and turning back to this in attempt to revive the industry is just replacing one problem with another.
I love saving money as much as the next person, but it’s important that we a) think about our own health and safety when taking advantage of these deals and b) think about the health and safety of the communities that will be impacted by these deals.
Travel restrictions and stricter visa policies
With almost all countries around the world already closing borders to some degree, it’s hard to believe that there won’t be some restrictions that stick once travel re-opens. Countries are going to want to do everything they can to restrict the number of travelers moving in and out of their country in order to limit virus spread; the easiest way to do this is with visa policies.
Many countries may continue to ban incoming flights from coronavirus hotspots like Wuhan, Italy, and New York. We might see a post-coronavirus travel world where some proof of a clean bill of health is required to obtain a visa or enter certain countries.
We’re already hearing whispers of some places like Hawaii, thinking about requiring incoming visitors to have a negative coronavirus test 72 hours prior to arriving on the islands and airlines like Air Canada requiring temperature checks before boarding.
As a Canadian citizen, I’m fortunate enough to carry a “powerful passport” according to the passport index. However, those with “weak passports” may see their passport index lowered even further with tightened visa policies.
Bloggers and influencers will have to take the first step
When travel does open up again, it will do so slowly. Many will be hesitant to jump back in to travel right away, especially if there is no coronavirus vaccine. Just like we saw after 9/11, travellers wouldn’t travel until security changes made them feel safe from terrorist attacks. Now, they’ll need to feel safe from disease.
In March we heard countless stories of travellers contracting the virus and struggling to get home, or healthy travellers stranded in foreign destinations due to closed borders. Many travellers will need time to forget these stories and be confident that there are measures in place to ensure these incidents won’t be repeated.
As a result, we travel bloggers and influencers, will need to take the first step to show everyone that it’s okay to travel again. Travellers turn to bloggers and influencers for insights, and if we’re not travelling, neither are they. Once we can be sure it’s safe to do so, bloggers and influencers will need to lead the charge into a new, post-pandemic travel industry and teach people how to travel all over again.
One thing that remains certain, whether you’re talking about the travel industry, food systems, health care, or housing, is that we cannot “go back to normal”. There is no return to a pre-coronavirus world. And frankly, that’s a good thing.
We now have a chance to create a truly "sustainable" travel industry. Click To TweetThis tragic, global disruption has provided the world with an opportunity to establish a new normal for some of the most harmful and broken industries in the world, including travel.
Travel opens our minds, makes us more compassionate, helps us reject prejudice, and respect different cultures. Travel shows us the beauty and magic of this world, while also revealing social inequalities and a planet in peril. Five years ago, travel showed me that the way I vacation has serious repercussions, which is what shaped A&A into what it is today.
“Sustainable travel” is a niche right now, but what if we changed that in a post-coronavirus world? What if sustainable travel becomes the norm? What if we learn to embrace slow travel and experience new cultures and languages at a more sustainable pace?
The travel industry has a chance to address some of its fundamental problems that have become endemic to the industry like overtourism, pollution, poor labour conditions, wildlife abuse, overdevelopment, and the marginalization of minorities. Using this pause to face these ugly realities can ensure the post-COVID travel industry is more sustainable, ethical, and resilient.
Rather than trying to “recover” the travel industry, we should work to transition travel to a truly sustainable level. Click To TweetWe will travel again, but when we do, we have to make sure to do it right.
