Travel industry experts weigh in on post-COVID trends
There has never been a year in which grasping the future of travel has been more critical. Which countries are you currently able to visit? Will I be required to take a COVID-19 test while on the road? On the plane, how many times will I have to replace my face mask? We talked to insiders in the travel industry about these issues, as well as the future of travel in 2021 and beyond.
It’s been an obviously bumpy path, but with new air corridors opening up and improved testing methods, it’s anticipated that flights overseas will begin to become simpler again.
Of course, travel will not be the same as it once was, but that may not be a terrible thing. Cities will be calmer, UNESCO World Heritage Sites will be less congested, and the atmosphere will be cleaner. The world has taken a breather, and while the tourist sector has suffered greatly as a result of the epidemic, it has taught us an important lesson: travel is a privilege, not a right.
1. Restore capacity
The most immediate need for all firms in the travel supply chain is to restore capacity or, at the absolute least, ensure that they can do so. Many restaurant contract and temporary employees who were laid off during the epidemic have found other positions and are hesitant to return to their old ones, resulting in a labor shortage. Last year, more than one in ten workers in the hotel industry in the United Kingdom departed. In April, there was still a shortage of about two million leisure and hospitality employment in the United States, which was considerably worse than before the epidemic.
2. Invest innovatively to improve the entire customer journey
While cash might continue to be in short supply, an area still worth considering for overinvestment is digital operations. Remember that the customer experience is shaped across the entire end-to-end journey, from booking to travel to the return home. Even seasoned travellers will have to adapt to new protocols, such as digital health certificates and safety measures. Travellers now need more, not less, assistance. Furthermore, certain critical journeys and moments — such as a family vacation, an important business trip, or a last-minute emergency — carry a disproportionate weight in consumers’ minds when they plan their next trip.
3. Reimagine commercial approaches
Travel companies may rethink their commercial approaches. The profiles of airline passengers and hotel guests will be different: more leisure guests, later booking windows, and higher demand for flexible tickets. Historical booking curves are no longer a good indicator of current behaviour. Travel companies need to use every source of insight they can to anticipate demand and optimise pricing. Flexible pricing models can also ease customer discomfort with today’s heightened levels of unpredictability. For example, EasyJet now offers a Protection Promise program that gives fliers free changes up to two hours before the flight.
Originally published on https://www.promiller.in/post/travel-industry-experts-weigh-in-on-post-covid-trends
