I was supposed to fly to Romania tomorrow for a lovely seven-day holiday in a country that I would love to explore.
We had a car journey for Transylvania planned and a stay near a forest in Cluj-Napoca already booked too. All of which got cancelled in early March, of course. Frustrating, to say the least, but we do have more important things to deal with right now.
And to be honest, it just seems surreal to me the idea of travelling for pleasure at present.
Yep, I know it’s too early to predict the global impact of COVID-19 on the travel industry. The fact is that we are getting used to the lockdown now and there’s still so much uncertainty as to when will be able to travel again. Plus, on what scale will “normal travel” be a thing again?
The future of travelling is as uncertain as the development of a vaccine to beat COVID-19. Some studies already predict a nine times worse impact than 9/11 brought on US travel. In Europe, the Italian Tourism Association already stands that Italy lost 60% of its tourists this year.
The good news is that the travel industry is quite resilient. People will start travelling again. We just need to consider that it will have some changes, in both the short and long term, in the way we go from one place to another. You will have people choosing a staycation or hiring a private jet to travel comfortably.
But here are some predictions on why we should consider a different type of travelling when it’s all over.
Table of Contents
#1 – Travelling closer to Home
This time last year, I was preparing myself to face a busy journey from London to Frankfurt, to then go to Brazil for my annual visit to see my family. I can’t even imagine what will be the next time I will be able to spend time in busy airports or take long haul flights now. At least, not now.
Initially, I am quite sure that travelling locally will be a thing for a while now. We will opt to get in our cars and go on a road trip around the UK, with local travel to be massively encouraged.
On the other hand, some European countries are already thinking about relaxing their strict isolation measures to come back to the “normal” life as soon as possible which I am sure is still going to take some time.
There’s certainly a light at the end of the tunnel when we’re able to start thinking about going abroad again. Portugal, for example, has given us a great example of how to deal with the COVID-19 effects in the country.
So, why not opt for a totally different holiday with Jules Verne when you start planning your next foreign holiday in the future? It’s completely fine to start searching for holidays abroad and you can take your time to properly map out your next trip abroad when it’s safe to do so.
#2 – Stay Healthy!
I guess that hygiene essentials will be a must-item on the checklist of every single traveller from now on. We can’t imagine sitting on a plane anymore without checking the cleanliness standards of an aircraft.
We do need to carry on having the same precautions such as not touching places without having hand sanitiser, using masks when sick, avoiding crowded places, etc. The list will be long, but it’s always better to protect yourself and others than face consequences.
#3 -Postpone it, don’t cancel it.
The truth is that nobody knows when this will all be over. So, avoid booking holidays abroad in advance which will save you a headache further down the line. I just had to change my flight – the one to Cluj that was supposed to be for tomorrow, remember?
My husband and I decided to postpone our holidays for January or February next year instead of asking for a refund. Many airline companies – if not most of them – will be in real trouble for the next months with all their flights grounded.
As we can all imagine, there is a huge decrease in booking holidays or flights and over 50 million jobs in the travel industry are at risk globally.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) states that it will take up to 10 months for the sector to recover. The best we can do is try to support the industry and why not take advantage of the low prices and offers in travelling when it comes back to “normality” for good.
#4 – Health and Safety Taken to Another Level
As social distance will be a standard behaviour from now to go, it is better to be prepared for long queues at check-in and customs.
Well, leaving the European Union would be enough reason for Britons to consider those changes, anyway, right? The truth is that travelling won’t be the same anymore. It’s better to get used to the fact that we all will have to change our views as well. Be patient and accept these changes for now.
The outstanding hygiene in aircraft and means of transport, in general, will catch customers’ eyes, as well as the service already provided by those companies.
It’s a fact that over 100 countries have already updated their strict travel restrictions. It will be a global measure to ask for a regular health check-ups from passengers wherever they go.
It’s essential to check the travel restrictions to cross borders for future travel. I am sure we can adapt ourselves to these changes, as we have done on other occasions pre-pandemic and hopefully, we can all look forward to travelling resuming again soon.
Featured Image | Nils Nedel on Unsplash
*This is a collaborative post.
