What Travel Will Look Like In A Post Pandemic World

That’s gotta be a question worth asking. What would travel look like in a post-pandemic world? I remember telling my friends about the different plans I had in store for 2020. Now it feels too far away.

One thing that you should know about me is that I’m a huge planner. I’m not saying everything always works out, but I still like the whole planning process. It makes me feel like I’m on the safe side. And in fact, almost everything worked out perfectly for the first two to three months. And that’s when I heard about COVID 19 for the first time.

But it wasn’t something to be taken seriously of course. I mean, things like these always come and go. There were even a couple of us who made fun of those people who, we believed, were being far too conscious. Mindlessly, we even made plans to hang out and roam around in New York City after the summer break.

And yet here we are now, in the September of 2020, all cooped up in our houses. I’m still dreaming of all the traveling that I’ll be doing once the pandemic is over. I’m even researching to find out every possible alteration to the travel and tourism industry.

If you have been wondering about the same question, then this post is definitely for you. So, here is what travel will look like in a post-pandemic world.

1. Mode of Transportation

How are the Airlines affected by Covid-19?

Airlines have been one of the most affected industries at this time. They have to assess the situation, maintaining maximum safety as well as maximum profits based on their estimates of what travel will look like in the post-pandemic world. This would definitely lead to an increase in prices.

There will also be a lot more efforts taken to ensure that most of the procedures taken from check in to security and up till the flight will be more efficient and touchless. This means that there are going to be possibilities of biometric screening.

There are also chances for the utilization of technology that would involve voice commands and will scan documents without touch.

To minimize risks, there will probably be more technology involved in baggage handling. Temperature checks would be considered with priority too. There are also chances for thermal cameras to be set up so that even this process wouldn’t have to be carried out with a lot of exposure.

You might even require immunity passports or health certificates before boarding.

There are also going to be flight modifications for sure. These would involve better cleaning routines, air filtration, and some other steps to ensure social distancing.

Cruise lines and Mega ships

Cruise lines have also taken a very direct hit as we all have seen how easily such viruses can spread while on a cruise ship.

They would take a while to recover because people would take a while to risk it all again. And it’s going to be slow at first even then. These ships may also not be as crowded as they were before.

Mega ships will face the same problem too, but they will recover faster because of the facilities and space inside. They will also start separating a small number of rooms as quarantinable.

2. Will luxury travel suffer after Covid-19?

Luxury travel wouldn’t suffer. It’s more person-specific and hence, it’s going to going to recover considerably. This means that there’s also going to be a spike in wellness tourism. Adventure travels will also be popular quite soon. People are going to love being out in the open again, feeling that rush all over again.

It’s almost inevitable that at first, people are going to concentrate more on domestic traveling. You know, nobody wants to take risks via air travel yet. I think more people are going to vote for road trips and regional flights. 

This also means that overland travel and day trips are going to see the majority of benefits from tourism.

There is also going to be more of a shift towards eco-tourism.

International travel wouldn’t be able to see much of a boost till we can get some assurance against this pandemic. For example, even if we find a vaccine against the coronavirus, it’s going to be a while before people are comfortable with air travel. This would mean that international travel would also become more expensive.

Here is a small graph of how the Corona virus affected people’s travel plans initally.

So, based on probability, places that had very less exposure to Corona virus or those places with really good recovery rates would become more popular than others.

Traveling is not something people can give up though and slowly. Yes, it’s true that we don’t know what travel will look like in the post-pandemic world but travel will surely be there. I definitely can’t give up my dreams of more overseas travel and I’m pretty sure that if you’re here reading this, you can’t either. So slowly but surely, travel will expand again.

3. General Resources

What will happen to the Popular Destinations after Covid-19?

All popular attractions will try to limit the number of people visiting on a particular day. There are also going to be cautionary measures like compulsory temperature checks, taken. Most places would also encourage people to carry on wearing masks.

Most probably, there will also be other social distancing measures in place even after the huge waves are over. Cleanliness will also be taken very seriously.

How are the Eating venues going to manage after Covid-19?

Small restaurants have a low survival rate. The big chains that can take a hit or two in their sales will be the ones who can thrive later. Restaurants that serve Chinese food will be seeing a great deal more decline in their income.

And it’s going to be a while before people start going out for food. Even now, people prefer buying groceries over takeout. Not only that, hotels and restaurants are going to definitely take cleaning and sanitation regimes seriously.

Will Vacation homes still be a thing after Covid- 19?

Private homes and rentals are going to be greatly preferred over hotels and hostels. People will be taking more advantage of their personal vehicles and staying in private vacation rentals like Airbnb rather than taking flights.

There’s also going to be a greater preference for eco-resorts or rural destinations. After having been trapped in their apartments for so long, there’s going to be lots of people who will have a renewed love for nature and its beauty.

Travel insurance

Lots of people have been stuck abroad during the pandemic. There were lots who spent a lot more money than they had initially expected. And lots more were denied compensation by their travel insurance companies. You might even be one of them.

So, the next time we can travel freely again, people are going to make more use of travel insurance companies and personal travel advisors. If you’re one of them, make sure that your insurance covers all unexpected fund needs.

Reflection

Remote working and learning have become a much more viable option. What we’re doing now is something we couldn’t have imagined a few months back. I certainly couldn’t imagine working the same jobs or learning stuff with the same severity as in college, while online.

I remember thinking once that online classes are always going to be a definite no for me. (Well, that worked out.) But this is certainly better in terms of traveling. We have realized how much of our dreams can be realized while working a full-time job. The whole concept of digital nomads, which may have seemed foreign a year back, has made a huge comeback.

Another thing that has been brought up during this difficult time is hygiene. You certainly know it. We have all started to give our health and sanitation much more attention than before.

None of us still knows when travel restrictions will be completely relaxed again. None of us know what travel will look like in the post-pandemic world. I’m definitely waiting for it. COVID 19 has put a halt on so many of our activities and we may not even be able to return to the normal soon enough.

But it has also given us time to realize where our true priorities really lie. It’s given us time to think. It’s also given nature time to recuperate. There’s a lot of news that has come up regarding the changes in nature that had been greatly accelerated by our social distancing measures. This has also led people to understand more of the impact we have on nature. It has made us more aware.