A disconnect between the travel industry and its clients threatens to stall travel’s recovery in the post-pandemic period, according to a new report released at World Travel Market.
Euromonitor International, in its global study “Accelerating Travel Innovation After Coronavirus,” said the travel industry needs to embrace creative new ideas in digital and sustainable technologies to help jump-start post-pandemic tourism, which otherwise can expect a best-case three-year recovery period before returning to pre-COVID-19 levels (depending in the availability and impact of a vaccine).
EI’s report forecasts global tourism arrivals will plunge by 57% in 2020 with Europe’s recovery likely to be one of the slowest, taking four to five years.
Aviation could take four years to recover, while travel agencies and hotels may take more than five years to bounce back.
However, the report also indicated that mobile and online sales will recover the fastest, but EI’s head of research Caroline Bremner pointed out that many travel businesses have been slow to embrace the trend, with, for example, only 41% of travel businesses surveyed providing customers with a travel app.
Another disconnect between trends and travel businesses is the fact that 64% of global consumers are worried about climate change yet only 49% of travel businesses say they engage with climate action.
Indeed, the report says that one in five (21%) travellers say they won’t return to previous travel patterns.
To that end, the report highlighted four key areas in which travel companies are innovating to help their recovery: digital, sustainability, health, and consumers.
In the digital sphere, firms are developing virtual touch-free experiences to give travellers confidence to book, such as Danish hotel check-in app Aeroguest and the Dominican Republic’s Covid RD app.
Interest in adventure and nature-based travel activities have risen from 51% of consumers in 2019 to 54% in 2020, and Bremner highlighted a biking scheme in Scotland that shows how outdoor activities can be therapeutic.
Other innovations include floating solar panels in the Maldives; offering hotel rooms as work-from-home spaces; and the ‘Conviva’ concept of conservation in wildlife tourism areas.
Bremner says this “building back better” trend is encapsulated in a quote from Jake Haupert, co-founder of Transformational Travel Council: “There is a global awakening occurring and there needs to be a change in mindset, to go beyond sustainability and embrace regenerative and transformational tourism.”
“We have an amazing chance to reset and chart a better path forward to build a more sustainable, equitable future,” says Bremner.
And that’s good for business.