Covid19 has been upsetting travel plans for over 9 months. We are beginning to realise that this pandemic isnt going away anytime soon. The travelling public are beginning to reassess what and how they will travel in the future.
Its now been a few months since we last surveyed our clients and we wanted to see whether their travel sentiments had changed.
For those that don’t like to read….go straight to the infographic at the bottom of the page 🙂
TRAVEL PREFERENCES
It still seems as though you would prefer to travel overseas, but if you cant then you would rather travel closer to home around your own state.
This has changed slightly since the last survey as your second preference back in May 2020 was to travel interstate. The second wave in Victoria resulting in another complete lockdown, as well as the uncertainty of border restrictions in Queensland and Western Australia may have something to do with this change of heart.
TRAVEL WORRIES
Catching Covid19 while travelling is the most worrying part about future travel (67%) followed by being concerned about not being able to purchase travel insurance that will cover you for Covid19 (61%). Over half of you (54%) don’t like the thought of having to spend 2 weeks quarantining in a hotel upon returning from over seas as your biggest worry.
TRAVEL WHEN?
Sometime in late 2022 is the predicted date of the return of international travel, as the average felt that we wouldn’t be flying internationally again until nearly 2 years away. Looks like its time to pack away those European brochures and dust off the local road map.
WHERE IS SAFE?
While there wasn’t one outstanding destination considered safe, the Pacific Islands (including Hawaii) were chosen as the safest destinations (36%) to travel to in the future. Time to brush up on your “Bula”. Not surprisingly due to its isolation and distance from humanity, Antarctica was also considered a safe travel destinations (32%). Better brush up on your “penguin”, although mode of travel to get there may prove to be contradictory, based the next question.
MOST LIKELY PLACE TO CATCH COVID19 WHILE TRAVELLING.
A resounding majority (83%) believe that the most likely place to catch Covid19 is on a cruise ship. While at first glance this doesn’t bode well for the cruising industry, I believe that Covid19 has just solidified “non-cruisers” beliefs about what cruising is all about (packed boats and buffet lines), whilst dedicated “cruisers” can’t wait to get back on a ship.
Planes and Tour Buses each received just over 50% nominations, so it will be important for transport companies to stress their cleanliness and Covid protocols to relieve fears of travel.
Interestingly, Hotels are perceived as a lesser riskier place of contracting Covid19. There are a lot of “touch points” that will require a meticulous and continuous thorough cleaning regime.
WHAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL SAFE?
In a non-prompted question, not surprisingly, the travelling public is waiting on a vaccine before they feel that international travel will be safe again. The second and third unprompted responses were “Low Covid Cases” and “Increased Covid Protocols” respectively. Even though travellers want a vaccine, its not going to be enough. They are mainly interested in going to places where there is little chances of outbreaks, and they want to know that they will encounter high levels of hygiene and cleanliness.
FRUSTRATION LEVELS
In general, on average, people felt that the governments (both at State and Federal level) were doing a good job and scored them a “high pass” with 76/100, and despite what they have said, their frustration level is relatively low as they understand that the restrictions are in place for the good of the country.
BEST NEWS OF ALL
Great news (for me anyway). Covid19 has made you 72% more likely to book through a travel agent in the future. One would hope this is due to the way travel agents have help customers who were/are stuck overseas trying to get home, working tirelessly obtaining refunds from overseas suppliers (many of whom have been in lockdown themselves), and generally trying to keep the public up to date with the ever-changing travel landscape.
The Don’t Forget Travel Group is a boutique travel agency that plans and curates custom-made holidays.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram
Contact us through www.dontforgettravel.com.au