How travel could recover, change after coronavirus pandemic: Report
Myrtle Beach, San Diego and Key West are most-searched US travel destinations, according to TripAdvisor
The travel industry was hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic because of lockdown orders and stay-at-home mandates, but as those restrictions are easing up, many people hope to travel at least as much as they did last year, according to a recent study.
On Wednesday, TripAdvisor published an extensive report covering how consumers feel about the travel industry and how hospitality and travel will recover after the pandemic.
The report, called “Beyond COVID-19: The Road to Recovery for the Travel Industry,” found that 41 percent of respondents were “optimistic that they will take the same or more trips than last year,” a press release about the report said.
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However, many people have shifted their focus to trips that are closer to home, according to the report.
The study found that 44 percent of respondents said they were more likely to take a road trip and 61 percent said they are “most comfortable taking a road trip for 3-5 days.”
TripAdvisor reported that those preferences could be caused by “perceptions that such trips are less risky since they typically involve contact with fewer people than other forms of travel,” the study said.
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Compared to before the pandemic, people are 218 percent more likely to want to take a trip where they can relax, the survey found. In particular, 59 percent said they wanted to go somewhere “off the beaten path” to avoid more popular spots.
According to the release, TripAdvisor has seen a spike in searches for campgrounds, ranches and beach motels in North America.
The most popular U.S. locations that people are searching include Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; San Diego and Key West, Florida.
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"We're encouraged to see positive signs of recovery and are here to help our travelers and partners understand the pathway through this pandemic with clear insights and tangible data," Kanika Soni, TripAdvisor’s chief commercial officer, said in a statement.
"Our path to recovery will depend on the steps the industry takes to prepare for the road ahead -- not just in terms of new standards and practices but also in how we collectively educate and engage consumers in a new, more thoughtful way of traveling,” Soni added.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRIP | TRIPADVISOR INC. | 13.45 | +0.10 | +0.75% |
Aside from how consumers are viewing travel, TripAdvisor also laid out five steps that the travel industry will go through toward recovery.
Those steps are the decline in travel; a plateau in bookings; early signs of recovery in the restaurant industry as travel restrictions are lifted; travelers beginning to book trips closer to home; and finally the resurgence of international travel as borders are reopened.