As the world becomes more connected, travelers are increasingly aware of how much they can learn from each other. But as a result, travel is becoming more expensive and less accessible for everyone. What will happen to the industry going forward?
The travel industry news is a research study that shows travelers are settling into the new normal.
Americans are adapting to their new normal of travel.
According to a recent Longwoods International and Miles Partnership monitoring study of American travelers, trends are developing 18 months after the epidemic, indicating a new normal—at least for now.
ADVERTISING
“The data clearly demonstrates how the pandemic has fundamentally altered the U.S. travel sector, not just in terms of the amount of people traveling, but also in terms of where they go and what they do when they travel,” said Amir Eylon, president and CEO of Longwoods International. “What we don’t know is how many of these changes will be transitory and how many will become the new normal for both passengers and the industry.”
A tendency of taking fewer travels, a shift from urban to rural locations, and the appeal of driving destinations have all developed. Because of the coronavirus, almost half of passengers have altered their trip plans, with 32 percent preferring to drive rather than fly, and a comparable proportion switching from international to domestic travel.
What’s Hot Right Now
Travelers have high expectations for their trips, according to the statistics. More than 80% anticipated travel providers’ service standards to remain the same as or better than before the pandemic—hotels, restaurants, attractions, airlines, and so on. However, according to Longwoods study, a quarter of passengers thought the quality of service on their most recent trip was worse than it had been previous to COVID-19.
In general, an increasing number of Americans want to travel in the next six months. In this poll, 89 percent of passengers indicated they had plans, a figure that has been stable since April.
Covid-19 continues to have a significant effect on travel plans. Covid was named as the main worry by 33% of respondents, with 26% stating their financial condition is influencing their choices and 24% citing transportation expenses as a major problem.
From a high of 67 percent in June to only 47 percent in September, the percentage of travelers who favor exposing their towns to tourists is steadily dropping.
The vast majority of tourists believe they are safe while going outside of their areas. Fifty-six percent think it’s safe now, but that figure is down from a high of 72 percent in June.
Travel is still impacted by the delta variation. Because of the delta variation, 36% of passengers have postponed 2021 visits scheduled between now and the end of the year to later or into the next year. However, 37% indicated they had made no changes to their plans. Only 7% indicated they had plans for 2021, while 10% said they didn’t know or weren’t sure.
Subscribe to the daily email for the most up-to-date travel news, information, and discounts.
Related Tag
- tourism industry