Sharon Lindores predicts the future of travel, post pandemic
Health checks, social distancing and fewer crowds
More than 11 weeks after globetrotting came to an abrupt halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, countries are starting to reopen and experts are getting ready to usher in a fresh approach to travel.
Bruce Poon Tip, founder of Toronto- based G Adventures, a global leader in small- group travel, is hopeful that the new normal just might be better.
“The pandemic has made people see how connected we are as a planet,” he says, adding this could encourage travel and spending that will give a muchneeded boost to many people and places around the world.
The travel sector was worth $13 trillion and employed about 330 million people in 2019, according to the London- based World Travel & Tourism Council ( WTTC). It’s also known to redistribute wealth unlike any other industry.
And that’s why Poon Tip and experts such as Ryerson University’s Professor Rachel Dodds think there is the potential for travel to contribute to the well- being of communities and the planet.
“We all play a part in it,” says Poon Tip, who recently published an instabook called Unlearn about his views on reinventing travel after the crisis, which basically shut down mass travel.
“We can still travel and we can still see beautiful places and iconic places, but make it more connected to the destination,” he says, in an interview from his home where he’s in isolation with his family. He expects people will avoid large, crowded resorts and cruise ships in the future, and focus instead on really visiting and getting to know different places.
Poon Tip has always been a firm believer in travel being a force for good and he thinks that will be the case on the other side of the current crisis.
Toronto- based Dodds agrees that the pandemic has highlighted the need to think of people and companies that have suffered in various destinations and to approach travel differently.
“Travel is an important tool for economic development as well as for conservation and sharing knowledge,” says Dodds, a professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
“I think that companies that can show they are doing something good for the community, or the planet, as well as for their customers will ultimately benefit,” she says.
So what does the new normal look like?
“Many countries and destinations already have different visa restrictions and the like, but with the health regulations for postCOVID, there will be additional health checks and social distancing requirements,” Dodds says.
Poon Tip thinks it will be important for people to feel safe and comfortable and so expects more of a focus on transparency and cleanliness.
That could mean new certification levels for hotels, more health checks at airports and travel to places where travellers are not jammed shoulder- to- shoulder with each other.
Tim Morgan, general manager, Canada, for Virtuoso, a global network of agencies specializing in luxury and experiential travel, says he thinks there will be more demand for boutique hotels, charter yachts and off-the-beaten-path experiences.
“The motivation behind how and why people travel will also look different,” Morgan says, adding multi- generational family trips could become more popular.
“The importance of human connection will be at the forefront after so many weeks and months in isolation,” he says. And where will travellers go? Morgan thinks Canadians will mainly travel locally and nationally this year, with international travel growing next year.
“No one has a crystal ball, so no one really knows for sure to what extent travel will change,” Dodds says. “But international travel will have to adjust as countries and companies accommodate new regulations and restrictions.”
The border between Canada and the United States will stay closed to non- essential travel until at least June 21.
The European Union and other members of Europe’s passport-free travel zone, Schengen, have been closed to non- essential travel and some of these countries such as Austria, Germany and France are gradually reopening borders.
Italy plans to reopen to international travel on June 3 and countries such as Belgium, Iceland, and Turkey are aiming to open mid- June. Spain and Greece are setting their sights on opening internationally at the beginning of July.
Meanwhile, Australia and New Zealand have agreed to open a trans-tasman travel bubble when it’s safe to allow flights between the two countries. Other groups of countries are also exploring the idea of having travel bubbles.
One thing is certain, international travel won’t rebound as quickly as it shut down. More than 90 per cent of the world’s population — 7.1 billion people — live in countries with travel restrictions, according to a Pew study. With countries reopening at different paces and a tourism industry that has shed 100.8 million jobs to date, according to the WTTC, the recovery is expected to take time.
But there is hope for post-lockdown travel.
People will look at countries and areas that have been relatively unscathed by coronavirus, Poon Tip says, pointing to the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and Vietnam.
And there will also be conscientious travellers who want to go to places where they can have a positive impact, he says. That could be Albania, Malawi or Honduras, among other countries.
As international travel picks up, early adopters who are open to jumping on a plane as soon as they can might have the most to gain in terms of getting good prices and seeing places sooner rather than later.
“This is a rare chance to get to certain destinations when they’re not crowded,” Poon Tip says, noting places such as the pyramids in Egypt or the Taj Mahal in India may be quieter than usual.
Even Shanghai Disneyland, the first Disney park in the world to reopen, on May 11, limited the number of guests to one- third the usual daily level of 80,000. Advance reservations, assigned entry times and social distancing measures were in place on sidewalks and rides.
G Adventures has cancelled all trips at least until the end of July, but bookings have been rising during the past few weeks, Poon Tip says. And the company is working with airlines and monitoring countries so they’re ready to offer trips when possible.
Poon Tip expects more adventurous travellers between the ages of 30 and 50 to be the first to venture off, but anticipates that numbers will grow over time.
He’s optimistic that a vaccine for the virus will be found later this year and says that should alleviate a lot of fears people may have about post-pandemic travel.
As for himself, he hasn’t been grounded this long since he started his company 30 years ago.
“I want to go to Italy this summer,” he says. “It’s been knocked back quite a bit and I want to show my support for the country. It’s a beautiful place.”