Study: Tourists Ready to Travel, If Safety Measures Are in Place

Photo Source: Travelport

The majority of travelers are now ready to consider booking domestic and international trips, but only if airlines, airports, hotels and car rental companies collectively implement 10 different safety measures throughout their journey, including fully flexible or refundable flight tickets.

A study released by Travelport found that at all parts of the travel journey, it is deemed critical to have social distancing rules, mandatory use of face masks, and ready access to sanitizing gel or wipes, face masks and gloves.

The percentage figures represent the number of travelers that said they will not travel unless the respective measure is in place. Measures (e.g. enhanced cleaning and disinfection) have been grouped together for the purpose of this table. Source: Travelport

The results are based on a survey of 5,000 travelers across the United States, United Kingdom, India, Australia and New Zealand, as well as in-depth interviews with 29 leading travel suppliers.

The study also revealed, however, that additional measures still need to be implemented by airlines, airports, hotels and car rental companies to fully restore consumer confidence.

“Over the last few months, the travel industry has rolled out many initiatives to support a safe, healthy and responsible return for travel. However, for the majority of travelers to return to the skies, the industry now needs to work together to not only ensure a wide array of safety measures are in place throughout the travel journey, but to collectively communicate these changes to travelers using a range of channels and merchandising technologies,” said Greg Webb, Chief Executive Officer at Travelport.

Meanwhile, on a country level, the study revealed that demand for almost every safety measure is highest in India.

Demand in New Zealand, while still high, tended to be the lowest across the five countries assessed.

When it comes to age groups, demand for robust safety measures was again high across all categories, however, it was highest among baby boomers and lowest among millennials.

The study also reveals that travelers are more likely to book through a travel agent than before the Covid-19 crisis, with one third (33%) of all travelers anticipating an increase in their use of travel agent services. This trend was particularly evident among millennials (44%).

Overall, the two thirds (65%) who claimed this, said it’s because they feel travel agents are best placed to provide them with the latest travel safety information.