Call it “revenge travel” – a form of pandemic payback by travellers who are not only weary of staying at home but are buoyed by diminishing concerns about travel safety in the second half of the year as vaccines continue to accelerate and take effect.

“Vaccinations have ramped up. Pandemic protocols are relaxing. Air travel is on the rise. All signs are pointing to the opportunity for recovery,” says Dan Richards, CEO of New Hampshire-based Global Rescue, which recently conducted a survey of 2,100 of current and former members that revealed participants overwhelmingly expect to start travelling again by summer.

“Traveller confidence is growing stronger, and that’s good news for the travel industry,” stated Richards.

The survey reported that three-out-of-four travellers (77%) are less or much less concerned about travel safety for the last half of 2021 (July to December) compared to 2020, although 54% said they are more – or much more – concerned about travel safety in the first half of this year compared to 2020.

But after that concerns plunge “considerably,” with a majority of survey respondents expecting to go on their next multi-day domestic trip greater than 160 km from home by June. And the survey predicts that international travel will pick up soon after, with nearly six out of 10 respondents (57%) expecting to travel abroad by winter 2021.

Richards notes, however, that traveller sentiment is at odds with government policies in several countries, including Canada, which require residents and non-residents to pass a (sometimes difficult to obtain) COVID-19 test before entering or re-entering those countries (and subsequent quarantine).

And proof of vaccination against the virus has not been approved as a substitution for a negative COVID-19 test, he adds, pointing out, “Negative COVID-19 tests do not inspire traveller confidence, certainly not nearly as much as the coronavirus vaccination, according to the survey. Traveller trust in the efficacy of a vaccination understandably surpasses that of a negative coronavirus test since the former prevents against an occurrence and the latter only detects if an individual has been infected by the virus.”

The survey reports that 73% of respondents would feel safer during a trip if they had a vaccine compared to only 36% who would feel safer if they had a negative PCR COVID-19 test result before reaching their destination.

As for actually travelling, being vaccinated (47%) and border openings (34%) are the two most important requirements travellers need in place to feel safe enough to travel internationally, according to the survey.

And to that end, Richards, who serves on the US Travel and Tourism Advisory Board at the US Department of Commerce, is the Chairman of the Board of Global Wildlife Conservation, and a Global Member of the World Travel and Tourism Council, urges travel industry and government leaders to keep pace with the “health solutions already underway” and not to “squander the chance… to prepare for the re-opening of international travel.

“Global leaders need to establish an international coalition tasked with identifying threats around the world… The technology exists today to identify pathogens that spread through the air. We can use technology in transportation hubs to identify those who are infected and take immediate action. That technology can be deployed in a way so the protocols don’t increase friction in travel,” he says.

He adds, “The fact that there are multiple approved vaccines and hundreds of millions of people already being vaccinated a year after the pandemic started is among the greatest of human achievements. But we cannot let the recovery wither under the heavy hand of overreaching government officials who ignore the fact that well-meaning continued public lockdowns, retail shutdowns, and travel bans have statistically insignificant public health benefits at this stage of the pandemic.

“Travellers,” he says, “will feel safe enough to plan trips and vacations when they are vaccinated, when borders are open and managed in a predictable way, and when they know they’ll be able to get home if the worst happens.”

Revenge awaits.