This post covers ways the travel industry may be impacted by the Coronavirus.
After being locked away in quarantine for these past couple of months, so many of us are ready to start heading out and seeing the world once more. However, when this pandemic finally comes to an end, what can we expect from the travel industry? One thing we know for sure, the travel industry will be changed forever. The question is, just how much? Will there ever be a semblance of normalcy, or will we look at traveling before COVID-19, and traveling after COVID-19? Here are 10 ways we can already see the travel industry being impacted.
9 Ways the Travel Industry May Be Impacted by Coronavirus
1. Dream Trips Will Be Taken
Quarantine has been rough on a lot of people. Not only when it comes to finances, but being able to spend time with those we love. With all of this down time, so many of us have had plenty of time to scour the internet for our dream trips. All of the destinations we so wish we would have already gone to see. After seeing the havoc this pandemic has had on the entire world, we can clearly see, that taking that dream trip down the road, might not happen.
Life is short, and so many of us are ready to take the plunge and seeing the places we’ve always said we wanted to see. Whether this means taking that dream trip to Australia to see the Great Barrier Reef, going to Italy to really experience the wine you love, or simply taking a road trip to some of the amazing National Parks we have around the United States like Yellow Stone National Park. The world is truly our oyster and we shouldn’t let it go to waste.
2. Travel Agents Will Be Sought After
After everything that has been going on in the world, people are having a hard time knowing what to do when it comes to traveling. What places are going to be open? How should one travel? Car, plane, cruise, etc. A Travel Agent is someone who could start to become everyone’s go-to after this pandemic comes to a halt.
The reason being is truly the peace of mind. They will take care of everything for you, no more worrying about trying to put all of the pieces together. Here are a few Travel Agent benefits: they save you money, added perks-(most agents have relationships with: hotels, cruise lines, negotiate better rooms, etc.), they are a good sounding board when it comes to planning a trip-even if you like to plan your own trips, you both can work together to come up with the perfect trip. They can help you get travel insurance! This is going to be a huge thing after this pandemic is over. So many people lost money when it comes to the trips they were going to take during this time.
Travel Agents will know exactly which travel insurances you should go for, especially ones that do not have claims stating that pandemics are not covered. They will be able to guide you to insurance policies that cover everything. Which, I would assume is going to become a big thing now that more people understand that things really can happen out of the blue. Travel Agents can also talk to places like hotels and let them know when you are celebrating something special. You never know what they will be able to get for you.
They understand the fine print. This on its own, after a pandemic is something that will be worth its weight in gold. Most people don’t take the time to read any of these fine print terms, which means you can lose out if something happens. They will be there to help protect your investment. Another added benefit is they will help you with travel insurance that covers medical. Most medical insurances don’t cover services if you are overseas. This is especially important after the pandemic, due to the fact that we really don’t know when there will be vaccination. If people are willing to start traveling again, it is imperative that they keep themselves safe. Many countries will take your passport if you are admitted to a hospital, and require payment in full before being able to leave the country once more.
Many Travel Agents also specialize in certain areas, this on its own can help ensure that you get what you are looking for. They will be up to date on what is going on around the world. In close contact with places such as: hotels, cruise lines, etc. to give you information on what these companies are doing to protect everyone’s wellbeing after this pandemic. At the end of the day, they can truly be your safety net. Taking the hassle away when things fall apart.
3. Travel Insurance Will Rise
Now that everyone is well aware of the fine print that many of us don’t even take the time to look into, travel insurance will be on the rise. Gone are the days when people will want to go through third party companies that may find you a discount, but if anything happens you not only have to go through them, but in many cases also have to go through the main party company. It will be imperative to find travel insurance that lets you back out of a trip for any reason, including a pandemic. It will add to your travel expenses, but it will give you peace of mind if anything were to happen, you wouldn’t lose out on a ton of money. Whenever something, such as a pandemic happens, people start to really realize the value of having travel insurance that accounts for the unexpected. We can see the number of these policies purchased to be more than we’ve seen before.
4. Hygiene and Sanitation Will Be of Utmost Importance
We can already see companies, such as airlines, adjusting how they clean their planes. After a pandemic such as the Coronavirus, we can expect that this will now become the norm. Passengers will no longer want to risk being in such close contact with others, without knowing that their health is being taken seriously. We could even see cruise lines limiting, or stopping the buffet style options that they are well known for.
Hotels are another piece of the travel industry that will need to make changes to ensure that travelers feel safe being in a room that others have used. The sanitation and hygiene methods these corporations come up with, could very well be the deciding factor as to travelers picking them to book with. It is clear that this is something that will not only determine many company’s success, but will become the travel industries norm in order to get travelers back to feeling safe.
5. Road Trips
With many people thinking twice about traveling by air, road trips will be something that many gravitate towards to satisfy their need to travel. After being in quarantine for months, many people have been unable to have contact with their loved ones. Traveling by car, will not only enable them to see their loved ones, but can be a much safer version. It will drastically reduce the amount of people they come into contact with, and they will be able to sanitize their own space to their liking. Not to mention, many airlines have stopped the vast majority of their international flights, so travelers will also start looking at places to travel in their own country. We can expect to see an influx of travelers going to places such as National Parks all over the United States.
6. Travelers Will Flock to the Outdoors
We can expect to see many travelers making the decision to travel outdoors. Activities such as: visiting National Parks, camping, hiking, etc. will bring travelers out to get their taste of freedom. Even if this means going to local destinations in their own state, many people will need to get away from their home for a while. This also provides a safer way of travel, due to being in less contact with other travelers if utilizing the social distancing we have been told to keep during this pandemic. Couple this with going on a road trip, many travelers will start looking to staying in the states for the reprieve they are looking for. We all will be looking for some fresh air!
7. More Space
Travelers will be accustomed to needing more space, and they will want to stick to this. We now know that being in close proximity to others can very well be deadly. Companies will have to really start rethinking their strategies to keep close contact with others to a minimum. Of course, certain areas such as TSA lines have little room to expand, but others such as airlines have the opportunity to provide distance between other travelers. Will companies such as Disney come up with new ways to spread out lines at places like Disney World? It will be up to travelers and their public opinion to show these companies what we expect after this pandemic comes to an end. We know that there will be changes, but which ones will stay, and which ones will go back to pre-pandemic.
8. Paid Time Off
We will all be better at taking the vacation that we worked for. Paid time off has always been something we in America are horrible at. So many days go wasted, but after this pandemic we will see a rise of those days actually being utilized. Why wait, or waste those days, when none of us know how long we have. Life is short, and those days are ours. We can expect that more travelers will truly start to value their vacation time, and start taking those dream trips they’ve always been putting off for another day.
9. Companies Going Out of Business
Unfortunately, we will see many companies in the travel industry go out of business. Even with money from the government, many companies are barely holding on. We have already seen quite a few airlines go out of business and we can expect that these numbers across the board will continue to rise. Without people coming back in the numbers they were previously, many will have to downsize by massive numbers, or file bankruptcy. We can expect to see an added level of competition for the travelers who decide to come back. As well as furloughs taking place across the board. Many airlines already have plans to furlough workers once October 1st hits and they no longer have to follow the stipulations of the Cares Act. This will show us drastically smaller airlines, and limit many traveler’s ability to travel internationally, even if they wanted to. Time will tell exactly how many will be unable to climb out of the hole.
Conclusion
The coronavirus has upended so much of our lives, that many of us are ready to really get back out into the world. However, we will be doing so with an added sense of precaution. We want to know that while we are traveling, our health will be of the utmost importance. This will not only shift the way that we travel, but the destinations we choose to travel to. Companies in the travel industry have a challenge they have never seen before, and figuring out exactly what it will take to make us feel safe again, is something they will have to contend with. No longer are the days where we will want to be squished together in close proximity. We do know that traveling will always be part of many of our lives, more now than ever. We have seen how unexpectedly things can happen, and we need to get out there and experience our dreams. We just want to know that companies will find new ways to focus on us more than the bottom dollar. I look forward to seeing my fellow travelers out there once again!
We hope you enjoyed this post on ways the travel industry may be impacted by the Coronavirus.
