According to TripAdvisor’s most recent survey, 50% of Americans were planning a trip during spring. The vaccine rollout makes them more comfortable travelling outside the USA, choosing destinations and brands that enjoy a good reputation and have worked diligently to strengthen safety and hygiene protocols, and have regularly communicated these to their audience.
Despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns throughout 2020, our segment is recovering because it offers a unique sociocultural value. Travel and tourism are essential activities that create jobs, empower communities, and enrich the bonds that link world regions together. In the case of AMResorts, our resort brand-management company, the positive impact goes well beyond the profitability that our family of brands generate. Our customers turn to us to enhance their family’s lives, shake off worries, and celebrate finer moments with people and in destinations that are meaningful to them.
Leisure travel is primed to recover faster than any other travel segment because our customers value the experiences and opportunities that our industry offers. Travel and tourism are activities that invigorate, inspire, comfort, and heal. These experiences, and the genuine human interactions behind them, are at the core of the work we do, and represent the best of what our industry has to offer. After all, there is a reason why our corporate mission is turning vacation dreams into life-long memories.
Travel and Tourism are Essential Activities Needed More Now Than Ever Before
More than 2,000 years ago, Aristotle famously described the nature of humanity as “inherently social”. Connecting with each other and the world are innate human qualities that consistently drive us to explore, discover, and expand our connection to the people and places that we hold dear. In essence, this explains why leisure travel and tourism are so appealing to most of us.
Throughout the pandemic, we have paid close attention to consumer sentiment in order to identify changing needs and expectations. We have also launched several initiatives to keep them informed of new and enhanced safety and hygiene protocols implemented at our resorts, designed to add an additional layer of protection without impacting their overall satisfaction. Our customers choose to invest their time and money planning a vacation at our properties because they trust in our brands’ reputation and are confident in our ability to deliver the best possible vacation experience.
With the above in mind, it is easy to understand why the global leisure travel industry is recovering much faster than segments like business travel, or meetings and incentives. For many companies, travel spending is fundamentally discretionary, meaning that if given the opportunity to avoid it, they will happily do so. The same cannot be said about families that, today more than ever, have a strong desire to take a vacation and enjoy a few days of relaxation, recreation, and an escape from the monotony and loneliness of life in quarantine.
As we now enter the second year of the global coronavirus pandemic, societies around the world continue to struggle with a predominant sense of uncertainty while doing their best to assimilate the dramatic changes that have modified nearly every aspect of daily life. The quarantine and closure of borders implemented to contain and control the pandemic have significantly reduced human interactions and created feelings of isolation in many people. These factors have made a very real impact on the mental health of the global population. The idea of going away and disconnecting for a few days, is inspiring people to travel again, and the pent-up demand that both, AMResorts and ALG Vacations, our family of B2B and B2C tour operators and OTAs, have seen during the past weeks confirms this. While people may have been waiting and paying close attention to how things unraveled over the last months, by now many have begun to reschedule the vacation that had been placed on hold for months.
A ten-year-old child alive today has lived 10% of his or her life quarantined. For many individuals, families, and groups it is not possible to simply turn to online activities to enjoy the same benefit as a week-long vacation in a pristine destination. While business travelers can shift their activities online and benefit from the wealth of cloud-powered remote working opportunities, leisure travelers have different motivations and do not want to give up their travel plans, even if they are starting to think of them differently.
Our industry has adopted a proactive approach to strengthen sanitary and hygiene protocols for those ready to travel; resources are being allocated to respond to changes in consumer sentiment and new expectations. Airlines are directing more flights towards leisure destinations, hotel operators are bringing back furloughed employees, and leading brands like ours are enhancing efforts to communicate the work they have done to prepare for their guests arrival and continue offering outstanding service and experiences. All throughout the travel industry, investments are being made in solutions designed to enhance the health, safety, and hygiene standards of key infrastructure.
People want to resume travel and are motivated to do so, but they also want to be sure that their experience will be as safe and smooth as possible. In other words, consumer confidence is decisive when choosing the resort and destination they want to book. Properties and destinations that already have an established reputation will reap the benefits of their hard work.
Together We Are Creating a Healthier, Safer and More Connected World
Truthfully, it is impossible for the global travel and hospitality industry to create unforgettable experiences without the collaboration and support of international stakeholders in the public and private sector. Teamwork is crucial for the overall success of the network that makes up the travel and hospitality industry. Global efforts to develop and supply coronavirus vaccines to travelers have been instrumental in lifting travel restrictions and allowing our customers to return to our properties around the world.
Fortunately, thanks to the ongoing efforts and commitment of medical professionals, government officials, and tourism leaders, we are closer to having consistent standards across borders that allow us to promote travel conditions that ensure the safety and security of everyone involved, while continuing to provide world-class experiences that deliver the human connections our customers seek.
The global leisure travel industry is a powerful force that will play an important role in creating a healthier, safer, and more unified world in a post-COVID era.
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