Global hotel room rates continue to decline, but airline tickets may go up due to less supply than demand.
When the world was almost shut down in March 2020 because of Covid-19, many visitors believed that everything would be back to normal in just a few months. But in fact, it's all been the same for more than a year.
The birth of the vaccine brings a spark of hope, and tourists around the world will see the changes caused by the pandemic - not just masks, social distance and hygiene measures in everyday life. day.
Here are travel industry predictions from experts from around the world interviewed by CNN.
Anyone wishing to travel internationally takes the time to study the rules of entry into another country and return to their home country. Many hope the vaccination campaign will ease some of the current troublesome regulations in quarantine.
But we will need two types of documents: a vaccination certificate and a negative test result, also known as a vaccine passport and a health passport.
The European Commission has recently proposed to introduce Digital Green Certificates digital certificates to people who have been vaccinated, tested negative with Covid-19 or recovered.
These documents will facilitate the movement of citizens within the EU. Many other health applications are created with the same purpose as Travel Pass of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), CLEAR Health Pass and CommonPass of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the non-organization. Swiss Common Project profits. Some airlines are testing health applications on certain routes.
"The Covid-19 test is a magic wand, so is the vaccine.," said Paul Charles, managing director of travel consultancy The PC Agency based in London, UK.
Just by testing peopleTravel as much as you can to reduce your risk of cross-border infections. But vaccination certificates and negative test results will likely be indispensable in the luggage of many travelers in the near future.
Technology that has been used frequently in the travel industry is becoming increasingly essential. Service providers will apply more technology to limit contact with visitors, such as hotel booking apps, airline tickets, check-in check-in ...
"Use your phone like a key, texting reception or room service ... All the new technologies are being applied much more commonly, "said Jan Freitag, director at the hotel.
More and more hotels are allowing guests to use cell phones as room keys. Photo: vnexpress.net
Colleen McDaniel, manager of tourism website Cruise Critic said that before the pandemic, many shipping lines added facial recognition tools to support the process of picking up tourists on yachts, buying, selling or checking- in a contactless cabin.
McDaniel thinks that after the pandemic, passengers will see the benefits of these applications. "I don't think the buffets before Covid-19 will return. There are still buffets but the food is served by the crew, in order to reduce exposure and avoid food waste."
>> See also: Thirteen countries allow entry to tourists who are vaccinated with Covid-19.
Renting services via Airbnb and other online platforms has become more prevalent during the pandemic, allowing visitors to have more private and autonomous space, without access. contact with too many people.
This is a trend that Freitag did not foresee, because he thought that tourists would rely on Covid-19 standards of cleaning and disinfection of rooms by major hotel brands.
Christopher Anderson, a professor at the Cornell School of Hotel Management, New York, USA, said that online booking continues to be a "bright spot" after Covid-19.
Many smaller hotels, farther away from the center, and often private hotels, have a good summer in 2020. Christopher believes this trend will continue into 2021 as tourists stay away from these businesses. downtown area.
Besides, room rates continued to decrease. By 2020, the average reduction in US hotels will be 20%. In 2021, the room rate is forecast to increase only 4% compared to last year.
Hotels located in downtown areas will take a long way to restore, as visitors increasingly love small, secluded hotels rented through Airbnb. Photo: vnexpress.net
When hotel room rates are still down, air fares are said to have gone up. Airlines will find ways to compensate for the heavy losses they have suffered during the pandemic. Paul Charles noticed that the price of air tickets increased, usually 20-30%, "and because demand is so compressed, consumers seem to be happily spending money".
Charles also believes that airlines will not resume 100% of their pre-pandemic flight routes, despite increasing market demand. That means the supply is still less than demand, and despite the increase in fares, flights are still filled.
Paul Charles, founder and CEO of a travel agency based in London, UK, says one of the great things about travelers is travel providers. Calendar, tour operator, airlines become more flexible in policies. "Obviously they have to be more flexible if they want to retain customers in the future, especially airlines."
Many airlines have dropped ticket exchange fees, but this is only temporary. Jordan Staab, president of the company that runs the travel website SmarterTravel Media, commented: "Taxes are too much and there is great value in maintaining the service". He predicts that new fees may be introduced soon.
