2020 really foiled all plans for travel for people all over the world. Expired travel vouchers, bucket list delays, cancelled flights due to lockdowns became common.
Travelers have been patient.
With vaccination entering the scenario, the travelers’ cliques all across the world have seen a ray of hope.
Here are the 5 predicted traveler expectation and what our travel partners can do to meet them:
1. Expectation:
Road trips: With the second wave of coronavirus hitting us in 2021, the rest of the world is in talks of figuring out travel bubbles. According to Booking.com’s survey, around 68 % of Indians are likely to give public transportation a miss to avoid travelling with a large number of people due to the fear of contracting COVID-19 and will choose to rent or drive their own car to and around their destination.
What travel partners can do:
Affordable and clean car rental options: With road trips turning into the go-to, travelers who do not own personal cars are going to start looking for options of renting either solo cars, or cars with drivers.
2. Expectation:
Hikes and treks: Hikes and treks are also among the first travel agendas that travelers are going to set when they start off. Hikes and treks were the last to stop because of Covid-19 post the first wave and they will be the first to start as the second COVID-19 wave dies down.
What travel partners can do:
Good deals on hikes and treks: People are always going to look for good deals on hikes and treks. Travel companies just need to ensure they are given those deals.
3. Expectation:
Travel bubbles: These are agreements signed between countries to facilitate tourism between each country. While exact dates for these travel dates depend upon how the vaccination scenario (as well as the coronavirus scenario) is in countries. In upcoming months India might see travel bubbles with many countries like UAE, Greece, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Seychelles.
What travel partners can do:
Good deals on international travel: The moment international travel opens up, the ratio of overbooked flights will go up exponentially and tour packages booked might show a steep rise overnight. Be prepared with the best deals for these travelers.
4. Expectation:
Solo travelers: Before the pandemic, Booking.com’s data showed 17% planning a trip on their own, while 30% now say they will be planning a solo trip in the future. After going through two significant waves of COVID-19, travelers have a new reason to travel solo which is a lesser chance of getting infected.
What travel partners can do:
Solo travel packages: Solo travel could be a split second decision but it also needs a certain degree of planning. Packages on solo trips might be the prince in shining armor for the solo travelers.
5. Expectation:
Workations/staycation: The 2020 Booking.com survey showed 68 % Indian travellers already made bookings to work remotely, which is the second highest percentage globally, opting for workations. With the second wave in 2021, the numbers can only be predicted to rise. However, people are definitely going to be a little strict about the cleanliness factor.
What travel partners can do:
Workations/staycations: The travel companies did it before and they need to keep at it. A very diverse set of options for both workations and staycations are what travelers are expecting.
While things look a little unpredictable now, expectations from travel companies are still high especially with the numbers of vaccination doses administered are increasing every day.One thing to be noted is that travelers are highly likely to not compromise on cleanliness. Therefore, any metric or guarantee for cleanliness will be one of the first requirements for any purchase of packages.
Safe travel is going to be gradual but invariable. With our country making valiant efforts to control Corona, it is expected to curb significantly by the end of 2021 and thus, travel is expected to boom.
Travel is the number one activity that is expected to boom, even before offices start reopening.