Traveling During COVID-19

Flights have begun to pick up with the holiday season and a new stimulus package provides 15 billion dollars towards airlines, under the strict guidelines that they bring back furloughed employees. While this seems like a unique change of pace, it’s no secret that the entire travel industry has suffered greatly due to the pandemic. AirAsia Japan filed for bankruptcy on November 17^th with many other airlines sitting on over 10 billion dollars in unclaimed travel vouchers. While COVID-19 is disrupting the airlines, it has a rippling effect on the tourist hotspots that rely on passengers from national and international flights. Bali used to attract over one million Australian citizens per year, but now this island paradise has become a ghost town. A local photographer, Jon Gwyther, even revealed photos of empty streets and shut-up shop fronts that demonstrated the sobering effects of this pandemic. The travel industry has taken note of the ongoing issues and have been forced to start using unorthodox strategies. I’ve reached out to Britta Ward, a travel advisor and the founder of Where to Travel, to discuss how tourism might be impacted moving forward.

Tripadvisor is in the process of rolling out their Tripadvisor Plus program, which offers access to travel deals and other perks for 99 dollars annually. Earlier this year, AirAsia also launched their Unlimited Pass program for domestic flights in Malaysia. Do you see the subscription business model becoming the norm in the travel industry and are there any unique issues that makes it difficult to have subscriptions for something like an airline?

 I see changes becoming more difficult to facilitate when it comes to subscription programs. TripAdvisor has a terrible history of being hard to get a hold of when changes need to be made. Additionally, they don’t offer as much flexibility or credit offers for air bookings as going through an airline directly. Unlimited Pass programs scream to me that the company is very low on money and trying to find any way to get people to invest now. We as a travel company are wary of any partner giving really good deals as it is a tell tail sign they may not be financially doing as well. The biggest thing to think about in the new year is flexibility.

The World Economic Forum, with the help of a Geneva-based nonprofit, are in the process of creating a “vaccine passport” app to be used at tourist destinations. The developers have stated that users will receive a private QR code once proof of vaccination is uploaded. Do you think that this passport would significantly increase overall air travel?

 I do believe the vaccination will make people feel more invincible in travel. There is a high demand to get out and travel safely and I hope that the mass production of the vaccine helps bring about more and safer travel.

Since a tier-4 lockdown was announced in the United Kingdom on December 19th, over 40 countries have announced travel restrictions against the UK. Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, announced that UK visitors will be required to quarantine or face a daily $1,000 fine. Is there any specific tourist hotspots that you think has been most affected by COVID-19?

Italy has been hit the most from the beginning of this pandemic. Italy is a hot spot for travel. They survive off of the tourism and it has been affected for almost a year now. I also believe Australia has been hit very hard with the major fires and now Covid.

Bill Gates has stated that he predicts “over 50% of business travel and over 30% of days in the office will go away”. Meanwhile, major hotel operators such as Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. are dipping their toes into the personal-office business. Is there any key differences between working with a business travel client vs. a leisure travel client and how impacted do you think business travel will be?

These travelers are incredibly different in how they travel and what is important to them. Business travelers are budget conscience and tend to have a lot of last-minute changes. Leisure travel is more hands on and detail oriented. What we have seen is more first-time travelers reaching out for leisure travel as they want the expertise for change policies and Covid policies for their vacations. This is what I am equipping myself to be an expert in. Airlines change their policies all the time and I am constantly keeping up to date for future business and leisure travelers that are ready to start hitting the road again.

Do you foresee any additional changes amongst your client demographic after this pandemic and is there any specific attractions clients will want more in their vacations post-COVID?

I see a lot of travelers reaching out for the first time to get expert help with trips. They want to have someone to talk to about flexibility and my job is to sit on hold for them if any changes need to be made. My new clients have been inside their homes, saving money and reach out to me to help them find a socially distanced beach. Before COVID-19 clients were looking for a local experience. I foresee the new year being filled with private tours vs group tours to get the local experience with less contact. I also see a lot more home/villa rentals for families to go on vacation and have space to themselves.