Contactless Hospitality is Trending

How Both Leisure and Business Travel are currently weathering the storm

By Jeff Aguiar | 11-2-21: The COVID-19 outbreak that hit the travel industry by storm is slowly recovering from the pandemic, but the road to a full recovery will be long and complicated. The hospitality industry is still facing several challenges, and although travel is resuming, recovery will fluctuate, contingent upon safety concerns, vaccination policies, and international travel restrictions.
Truthfully, we are not expecting the hotel industry to have a full recovery until 2024. But today, we are sharing a few updates on how both leisure and business travel are currently weathering the storm.

Business Travel
In 2019, the U.S. Travel Association reported estimates that households and businesses spent a total of $1.1 trillion on travel. Of the $1.1 trillion spent, business travel was approximately $334.2 billion, which went down about 70% in 2020.

The truth is that business travel will rebound, but it will never be the same. Between country and state-imposed restrictions and companies requiring vaccination from their employees, the hurdles for business travel are still too tricky. Many organizations won’t risk business travel and instead will continue allowing employees to work from home. Already major companies like Amazon are going completely remote, and others have pushed back their return to the office date to later in the year or even into 2022. However, organizations have realized that the alternative is not that bad. They went from allocating massive budgets for in-person client meetings and global conferences to now closing deals and hosting training/events all digitally. So even though virtual meetings don’t provide the same experience, for now, it’s working just as well.

As for the future of business travel, it will be the responsibility of both the employers and travel companies to find ways to give passengers peace of mind and improve their safety and comfort. We might even see a spike for “bleisure” travel, which refers to trips that blend leisure and business purposes. Marriott International President Stephanie Linnartz is already seeing travelers take on a “bleisure” travel approach. “They are saying, ‘I can work anywhere right now,’” Linnartz said. “People want to experience life again. So we’re seeing many of our customers get out there and say, ‘I’m going to take a two-week trip, maybe an extended trip. And I’m going to do a mix of both working remotely and vacation time.’

Leisure Travel
Is it just me, or is your Instagram also flooded with photos of friends and family traveling everywhere from Mexico to Paris right now? Don’t worry; it’s giving me FOMO too!
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world economy, the leisure travel industry was among the most affected. Hotels closed down or were empty, planes were grounded, and tour operators and travel agencies dealt with significant cancellations. But after an anxious and challenging time, we believe that travelers are starting to get more comfortable booking vacations that require airfare instead of the typical road trip. Even with all the vaccine and COVID test policies in place, people are still willing to jump through as many hoops as they need to travel again. According to McKinsey, in the United States, air travel has hit two million daily passengers, closer to the pre-pandemic level of around 2.5 million than to the low of approximately 90,000, in April 2020. Hotel reservations and rental-car bookings are surging as well.

As for travel trends, there are a few experiences the post-pandemic traveler will be considering. For example, we predict the rise of the slow-traveler; this is someone who is far more discerning about the journeys they go on. They are willing and able to be away from home for longer (thanks to remote working), more appreciative of culture, and immersive experiences that connect them to the local communities. These types of travelers want more than to sit by a pool with a margarita. Instead, they have a strong desire to discover a place through culture, cuisines, landscapes, and activities.

Outdoor travel in the U.S. has experienced huge spikes post-lockdown, and I expect it to continue trending this year. Zina Bencheikh, managing director EMEA, Intrepid Travel: Climbing mountains and pushing boundaries, said, “We predict the rise of slow travel. The pandemic has forced us to slow down, and many of us are not in a hurry to return to a fast-paced style of travel. I anticipate that trips will often be closer to home. We are also seeing strong demand for all types of wilderness travel as people want to spend more time outdoors, from the Galapagos to Antarctica voyages”.

Finally, it appears that travelers are ready to indulge in travel experiences, and even during these unprecedented times, it looks like there may be light at the end of the tunnel for both leisure and business travelers.

Stay tuned for more updates as we will continue monitoring travel trends for both leisure and business travel.

Virtual Front Desk
For more information about the Aavgo Virtual Front Desk, please contact our experts by phone: 1-888-932-2486 or via email: info@aavgo.com.

(Note: Jeff Aguiar is the Aavgo Vice President, Partnerships & Business Development.)