As lockdown restrictions begin to ease across the world, it’s not just this summer’s travel which is looking very different to previous years. As the full consequences of the pandemic continue to be felt, travel companies are already looking ahead to the future of travel — and how we can expect it to change.
“During lockdown, we’ve all had time to rethink our lives, needs and priorities,” says Paul Charles, CEO of The PC Agency, which specialises in travel consultancy and PR.
“As many people and companies reset in 2020, we’re going to have to get used to major change which will not only be refreshing but also beneficial longer-term.”
And those changes are set to affect everything from where we travel to how we travel, as well as what the experience is like once we get there.
“With so many question marks over air travel — how expensive it will be and how airlines and airports will be able to maintain social distancing — we can’t expect to return to business as usual any time soon,” points out Tom Barber, co-founder of Original Travel.
“In general terms, we believe we will see people travelling less but travelling better; so going for longer and thinking more carefully about their holidays.”
Where we’ll go
It will come as little surprise that most travel will be close to home, at least in the short term. Once restrictions lift further, concerns about quarantine are still deterring many — an IATA survey found that 69 per cent “would not consider travelling if it involved a 14-day quarantine period”.
Already Kuoni, which specialised in luxury long-haul breaks, is planning a new range of bespoke holidays throughout the UK and Ireland.
And even if proposed travel bubbles and air bridges make flying a possibility once more, passengers can expect a very different experience.
Flying has rarely been a joy in recent years thanks to heightened security and no-frills flights, but passengers can now expect to wear masks and face anything from pre-boarding blood tests and other medical checks to cabin crew in full PPE.
At the same time, tickets are set to become a lot more expensive with air lines trying to recoup money lost during lockdown or to compensate for continued lost revenue if they block out middle seats to help distancing.
The very seats themselves might have to change: the proposed Janus seat design from Aviointeriors has a reversed middle seat with transparent protective barriers between the three seats for added protection from your neighbours and anyone walking along the aisle.
Even if it passes stringent airline safety checks, that’s not exactly welcoming.
On the flipside, the desire to get travelling once again is inspiring plans for once-in-a-lifetime escapes next year. “People are using this time to dream up the kind of big bucket-list trips you never normally get around to planning,” says Tom Marchant, co-founder of Black Tomato.
“As soon as travel restrictions are lifted, many will seize the day as soon as it arrives.
“Due to the current pause on travel, many of the world’s most exclusive destinations, which normally require several years’ lead time to secure, may also be more accessible, so there is tremendous value in planning and booking ahead.
“We are seeing this reflected in recent bookings to Argentina for this winter’s solar eclipse; to Iceland to see the Northern lights and to places like Angama Mara in Kenya for the ultimate safari trip.”
Where we’ll stay
Reassurance will be key for travellers when it comes to booking accommodation — forget boasting about pillow menus, hotels are more likely to focus on their use of hospital-grade disinfectant and ultraviolet light technology to sanitise, not to mention contactless options for check-in.
Flexible booking is also top of the list. Many who have lost money, or are waiting on refunds for 2020 travel, will be particularly unwilling to book without some guarantee they won’t find themselves in the same situation.
No cost changes and cancellations could well become the norm to start tempting wary travellers back again — Expedia now allows you to filter hotel searches by free cancellation — along with added medical care or promises of privacy.
In Zurich, Le Bijou hotel has special coronavirus packages for its apartments with the option to add nurse visits, personal chefs and food delivery, as well as testing.
We can expect to see a rise in self-contained accommodation: hotel apartments and micro hotels, such as innovations like Birdbox by Livit, self-contained cabins which promise the experience of a hotel stay, set in beautiful isolated landscapes. With space for just one or two people, you can entirely avoid the crowds.
This desire to have our own space is also driving our choice of accommodation: for the ultra-wealthy, a private island escape. For those with a budget, glamping escapes, from converted shepherd’s huts to sites out in the countryside.
The Treehouses at Lanrick in Perthshire, luxury sustainable treehouses in secluded woodland near the Trossachs National Park, open in September with their own self-catering facilities, tapping into this trend.
The sharing economy will still suit some as well, due to the appeal of having your own space and self-catering facilities — but while AirBNB has released new hygiene guidelines for hosts and guests, it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to reassure.
In the US, travellers are already turning to RV holidays instead: peer-to-peer RV rental marketplace RVshare has had its highest recorded booking numbers, up 650% by mid-May from early April alone, with a survey showing that 93% are specifically looking to avoid crowds, a rise of 70% from the start of the pandemic.
How we’ll travel
There’s been an explosion in virtual travel during lockdown, and once we’re able to explore the world again, technology is set to play an even bigger role than before. Kuoni has introduced video appointments with their travel experts, after a rise in those asking for video chats rather than phone calls.
We can expect to use our phones to unlock hotel rooms, swap paper and audio headsets for e-tickets and downloadable guides, and deal with robot hotel staff. In Hong Kong and Singapore, you can already find robots delivering room service and calling for a lift, while in-room smart assistants will replace printed guides.
But we’ll also be looking to make travel more sustainable. With daily carbon emissions down 58% in the EU since the outbreak, eight in ten flights grounded globally and empty streets in destinations which were buckling under the strain of overtourism, it’s been a reminder of the impact travel makes.
An Original Travel survey on how the pandemic will change general travel habits found 30% were in favour of travelling more sustainably, along with an increasing drive to “philantourism”, or philanthropic tourism.
Our choice of destination will be determined by who we’d like our travel spending to support, ensuring our first post-Coronavirus holidays are helping those whose economies are dependent on tourism as well as ecotourism initiatives.
Ethical companies like Aardvark Safaris have already seen bookings for 2021 from those tempted by the combination of a bucket list adventure and supporting local communities.
“Tourism is part of the problem for conservation. But it’s also part of the solution — and the crisis has illuminated its role in protecting and preserving nature and habitats,” says Justin Francis, founder and CEO at Responsible Travel, who points out that since ecotourism has dried up, rhino poaching in Africa has increased as locals become increasingly desperate.
“Done right, tourism is a wonderful industry and a force for good. But the old model was broken. A future-fit industry will have a greater sense of responsibility and duty of care to people and planet.”
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