Future of travel in doubt; desire to wander, not

To say that COVID-19 had a devastating impact on travel and tourism industries would be a gross understatement. Unfortunately, many of the supporting industries have closed or continue to struggle to stay afloat and millions of people remain out of work or furloughed. To date, the pandemic has resulted in more than $500 billion in cumulative losses for the U.S. travel economy (U.S. Travel Association) and Connecticut is no exception.

Unlike other outbreaks that typically impact a particular region, the devastating impact of COVID was and remains to be global. The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that the impact of COVID has resulted in more than 121 million global travel and tourism jobs lost and a staggering $3.4 trillion loss in global GDP. The very nature of COVID and imposed health restrictions made it nearly impossible for most travel-related businesses to adapt or remain open.

One of the challenging aspects for many travel companies and related industries was the lack of support and guidance. Some industries and small businesses that were the very backbone of our culture and industry have struggled to stay open. States were left to create their own policies and plans with little to no guidance beyond Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Some small businesses struggled disproportionately due to the lack of financial support to stay afloat. It has also been extremely difficult for travelers to navigate the constantly changing rules and regulations both nationally and globally.

Will COVID testing now be as common as going through metal detectors?

The future of travel and associated health screenings still remains to be seen. At the moment, companies are doing their best to adhere to guidelines. It is very likely that in at least the short term, health screening, proof of a vaccine, temperature checks and COVID testing will become the norm. It would be helpful to have a collective response to travel safety and procedures and not leave it to each industry to figure out.

While this has been an incredibly tough year, the nature of COVID has had many of us stuck inside and many are going to want to travel again. The industries that can survive for now will thrive again and should be highlighted as case studies for success and resilience. Some organizations and companies have been extremely creative in their response to the many challenges they faced and we should celebrate these accomplishments. To have survived in what will go down in history as the worst year for global travel is an incredible accomplishment.

All travel-related businesses should be re-examining how they do business, re-evaluating their client base and developing new marketing strategies for when the world begins to open for business again.