The Impact of Coronavirus on Travel and Tourism

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key Findings

On the front line

COVID-19 does not discriminate, and all travel brands and destinations have been impacted massively by the unprecedented global travel shutdown and felt the force of economic and social lockdowns.

Recovery timelines

A major question is how long the pandemic and economic impact will last and when recovery will begin to take hold. The baseline forecast points to at least three years for tourism demand to recover to pre-crisis levels.

Hitting rock bottom

In Q2 2020, declines of 80-100% were reported across airlines, intermediaries and hotels as the world froze still and slowly began to reopen early summer by setting up travel corridors.

Major casualties

Certain sectors of the travel industry may well never see recovery to the pre-crisis levels that they enjoyed, expediting digital transformation that was already underway. A case in point is business MICE, which is unlikely to recover.

Sustainability for survival

Another key criterion is the sustainability of travel products. Mass tourism and cruise were already under the spotlight for their contribution to over-tourism, so the writing is on the wall for mega cruises and bucket list hot spots.

Back to start up mentality

For all travel brands, it will be a case of using the hiatus to revisit their core mission and product offer. In terms of survivors, cash will be key, and digital brands will have the upper hand in terms of agility and speed to act.

No more business as usual

The collision of the pandemic with the climate change 2030 agenda creates a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to reset and rebuild for the benefit of people and planet to maximise the positive impacts of tourism and minimise the negatives.