The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) today released a new report, created in collaboration with global management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, which examines the implications of four intertwined travel and tourism trends revealed through its data-collection work.
These observed pandemic-era macro-trends are predicted to lead the way during the sector’s recovery and beyond: Demand Evolution, Health and Hygiene, Innovation and Digitization, and Sustainability.
In terms of Demand Evolution, current consumer behavior amid COVID-19 points to a shift toward a preference for trusted, familiar and predictable travel options. Predictions are that domestic vacations, extensive planning and outdoor experiences will continue to prevail in the short term.
The importance of Hygiene and Health protection factors cannot be overstated, and are key to reestablishing travelers’ trust. Researchers expect that these kinds of considerations, in conjunction with concerns over the ability to socially distance and fears of getting stranded in a foreign country, will guide consumer behavior in the short- to mid-term.
Technological Innovation and Digitization efforts have been spurred forward by the advent of the unforeseen pandemic. Stay-at-home orders have forced much of the global population to increase its adoption and consumption of digital platforms on a regular basis, and consumers now expect contactless technologies to be available, particularly as a prerequisite for safe and seamless travel processes.
Finally, we’re seeing a further focus on Sustainability amid recent global struggles, including widespread unemployment, anti-racism movements and threatened destruction of natural habitats. The world seems reinvigorated to tackle social, institutional and environmental sustainability issues. Heightened public awareness of animal trafficking and poaching, and forms of animal abuse in tourism markets, has bolstered advocacy for wildlife protection.
Entitled “To Recovery & Beyond: The Future of Travel & Tourism in the Wake of COVID-19”, the report also provides a set of recommendations for ways that the Travel and Tourism sector prepare for the most seamless recovery possible. It emphasizes the importance of taking a global coordinated approach to recovery, and the criticality of public and private sectors working together to rebuild traveler confidence, buoy the industry’s resilience and recover the millions of jobs lost.
Gloria Guevara, President and CEO of WTTC said: “This comprehensive research paves the road to recovery for the Travel and Tourism sector. While there is still work to be done, this gives us insight into how we can best approach recovery, and offers a vision and hope to the sector. It is crucial that we continue to learn from previous, crises and come together in a coordinated way to make a real difference in reducing both the economic and human impact.”
“We strongly believe that by working as and by taking a coordinated approach, we can beat COVID-19 and return to safe travels with world-class standards of hygiene to travelers, and regenerate the jobs and livelihoods of the 330 million people who worked in the sector before COVID-19,” she continued.
Some of the report’s recommendations specifically address:
—Border openings and repatriation: Implementing a harmonized approach to eliminate travel restrictions, with standardized testing and contact-tracing requirements at the point of departure.
—Define common health and safety standards: Standardize public- and private-sector health and safety requirements within the travel and tourism industry.
—Strengthen worker support schemes: That governments should provide payroll protection and wage subsidies, in addition to general stimulus payments and tax payment deferrals.
—Incentivize travel: That governments should introduce consumer incentives for travel spending, initially for domestic tourism and expanding to regional and international activities when appropriate.
—Promote tourism, beginning with domestic and regional travel: Governments, tourism boards and destination marketing organizations should provide early marketing and promotional incentives for domestic and regional travel to stimulate the soonest possible market recovery.
—Extend digital infrastructure to rural destinations: Invest in digital infrastructure for remote areas and emerging destinations, and build up digital skills of workers within local communities.
—Integrate digital identities: Adopting digital solutions and identities will maximize the accuracy of implemented health and safety protections, reduce bias in border control and expedite the movement of passengers.
—Rethink the workplace: The recent, rapid shift to remote working challenges both the private and public sectors to rethink and optimize working arrangements.
—Stimulate sustainability practices: Develop and institute incentives to encourage private-sector businesses to adopt advanced sustainability measures.