Here’s How Travel Will Change After the Lockdown!

Driving away for the weekend, saving up for the vacation, going on a road trip, that’s the lifestyle most of us were used to until a few months ago. However, the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 shut down all the tourist destinations. With the lockdown and self-quarantine impositions, people cannot travel outside their homes. While this has become the new norm, and people are getting used to living indoors, countries are facing the brunt of it.

Tourism is a significant revenue source for the country. Right from the visa charges, flight ticket, hotel bookings, tourist destinations, to the souvenir shopping, tourism brings money and employment to every country. It shouldn’t come as a surprise for you to know that a lot of counties consider tourism their primary source of revenue. However, all that is a thing of the past and the past five months of 2020 has seen very little to no touristy activity.

With no new cases reported and the curve going flat, most countries are considering opening up tourism. The recent announcement from various countries on the restoring normalcy in the country in a phased manner opens up the most crucial question. Would travel and tourism remain the same in the post-COVID era? What are the most likely changes that one would see? Do you have the same questions too? Well, here is the answer to it all.

Air Travel

With expensive flight tickets being the foremost thing, compulsory health checkups will be mandatory too. Just the way the security checks get stronger at the time of a national threat, countries might start embracing stricter norms for passengers. Those with a travel history to countries that are COVID hotspots will find it tough to gain access to most countries. As airlines aren’t operating during the pandemic, some of them are working on blocking the middle seats. This is an attempt to ensure the passengers maintain the minimum social distance.

All the low-cost airlines, affordability, and frequency of travel is going to change.  In an attempt to maintain passenger loyalty and stay in business, most airlines are promoting the air quality in their aircraft. They are ensuring passengers that they ensure proper sanitization of all the facilities. So, you might start hearing a lot of discussions on this in a few years now, akin to people discussing airline food. Fascinating, isn’t it?

Health Reports

Health reports are going to be the most important travel documents. Besides the visa, passport, and other travel documents that you usually pack for travel, you will need a medical report too. It is besides the flu shots that a few countries usually recommend. This will specifically apply for people traveling from countries that are hotspots for COVID-19. It will also be impossible to travel without a pair of hand gloves, a face mask, and basic hygiene equipment. Travel insurance and medical insurance will find an important place in the travel bags too.

Health Reports will be more important than most of your travel documents as you might not have the sympathies of the airport staff and your fellow passengers if you look sick. So, make sure you get a complete health check-up, a COVID test, your health insurance, and carry all these documents with you while you’re traveling.

Hotels

People traveling for business, pleasure, or otherwise will start picking villas and independent apartments overcrowded hotels. Deals and cheap prices that was the selling point for most properties will take a backseat. Frequent sanitization, social distancing, and other sanitary protocols will be the talking point. No-contact check-in and check-out will be the norm.

A fall in the people visiting spas and common pool areas might see a drop too. This is where the properties that have individual villas will see a spike in business. A lot of countries that have opened bookings for summer 2020 are seeking a spike in villa bookings. It thus proves that this new trend might revolutionize the hotel industry.

Aggregators like AirBnB might have to adapt strict norms to ensure the properties are safe and the guests do not have any health issues. The last thing a person wants is to have the guests infect the place and spread the virus. Health check-up at airports will be the new normal!

These are just a few changes that you might see in the months to come. Going by the current trend, one could confidently say, many more changes are in the pipeline. But the silver lining is, everyone is ready to fight the pandemic and understand that they’re together in this struggle. It’s that attitude that’s going to help people come out safe from this crisis and bring life back to normalcy!