Feature
Tourism & Hospitality
Chamberlink considers how the Covid-19 pandemic will affect the travel and tourism industry
least until the potential arrival of a vaccine. Not just because of the imposed
restrictions, but the oncoming social changes that will change the way we all live; consumers will be faced with all new considerations for travel and must put their trust in the systems and measures the industry establishes to protect against further spreading of the virus. A faith that many – particularly older travellers with health fears – will not have. The industry must adapt as attitudes and trends change, with people getting more accustom to social distancing measures. Airports, with their densely
packed queues of people passing through security checkpoints and waiting in terminals, will need to establish new systems to keep their passengers and staff safe. Infrared thermometers, facemasks and distance markers are already becoming commonplace. New sanitation measures are being introduced and staff are keeping
52 CHAMBERLINK June/July 2020
How will Covid-19 affect the future of travel behaviour? T
he outlook for the travel industry appears very bleak in the face of Covid-19, at
passengers separated wherever possible. Advanced testing is also being discussed, which could form part of a health passports approving passengers for travel. Airlines should also be
considering how they are going to operate under the new conditions. Will we start to see aircraft redesigned to include separation and increased personal space? Concepts are already floating around for screens separating passengers and new seating arrangements – for the time being though, the reduced passenger capacity has allowed masked passengers to be separated by empty seats. The hotel industry will be
subject to all new cleaning standards, with many major hotel brands already establishing new guidelines on health, hygiene and safety. All of which should be put on full display to inspire confidence in those staying at the property and to avoid any potentially detrimental reviews. This will of course add to the already significant and time- consuming cost of cleaning.
Some accommodation types will
fair better than others; higher volume and more densely populated locations will face the most challenging task of adaption, whereas some more exclusive and remote locations could fare better. In particular, those with adjoining restaurants and shared common spaces especially will be faced with challenging decisions on how to manage those services. It is likely that due to the restrictions on transportation and a general fear of mass transit, there will be a dramatic increase in domestic travel. Rural holiday settings, such as lakeside towns and country retreats, will be the first to see a surge in new travellers as things begin to recover. All brands should be considering the changing mind-set of their customers and question what opportunities may be arising – and how they can take advantage. Some of the challenges facing
tour operators will be extremely diff icult. There is now an issue with capacity in popular tourist locations if crowds are to continue to be avoided. Those Instagram
hotspots, where large groups wait their turn to photograph popular landmarks or attractions, are places where social distancing will be especially hard to enforce. Tour companies will likely put reduced crowding as a priority going forward. For an industry that is largely made up of group activities and transportation in buses and private cars, this will be a difficult task to address. Private tours (which were already seeing a rise in popularity) may become the default option. For those in the travel industry
most 2020 will be a difficult year. Several countries have introduced quarantine periods of up to 14 days and most are encouraging to avoid all but essential travel. With that in mind, the UK Government has given the green light for domestic travel to resume in July, which is also the case for many countries across Europe. The rebound is looking like it is going to start at home. For those who have to wait longer for the recovery to start, this is a great opportunity to embrace change.
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