It can be difficult to come up with some non-COVID-19 news these days, and the media – especially the travel media, if they are at all like us here at Travel Industry Today, are looking for something different, yet pertinent and of interest to our readers. For some publications surveys seem to be the new news go-to.

I’m guessing that our readers, like me, have been receiving more surveys than usual from a variety of sources. I usually don’t reply because they seldom apply to me personally, or the publication.

However, surveys can be both fun and interesting. One recent travel trade survey reported on travel agents’ ‘biggest frustrations’ with both clients and suppliers – “pursuing refunds or chargebacks” for the former, “long call centre wait times” for the latter – neither particularly unexpected – but interesting to know. They also asked, “Who will travel first?” and “Where will they go?” questions. Again, the feedback was not especially surprising, but the chronology of the choices was interesting.

On the other hand, surveys can be ridiculously trivial. One recent such “special” announcement gave us the news that when the pandemic struck, travel agents and small businesses were hurt as cash flow was affected and trips cancelled. Really? It told us sales are down, the Canadian Government has stepped in with programs to help small business and that no one knows for sure when the travel industry will return to “normal.”

Wow, the industry needed a survey to impart this patently obvious-to-all knowledge.

Surveys can and do have a place and can provide valuable and constructive information. We are always willing to publish the results of informative surveys that provide useful, or even just interesting, data.

However, I am sceptical of surveys that do not provide the number of people surveyed, that are spurious to actual news, and that show the company conducting the survey at the top of every poll that involves ranking competitors.

Really?