Insight Hub

The latest Expedia Trends Report finds that during 2021 searches increased 70% compared with 2020 and that city destinations are starting to regain ground. Searches are moving to a slightly longer time horizon indicating increased traveller confidence.

In a number of countries there is a growing sense that Europe could be a destination to visit later in 2022, but perhaps not during the early part of the year. Sentiment is more positive in the Americas than in Asia, with those in Japan and China the least likely to be on the cusp of cementing foreign travel plans.

A report claiming that the wanderlust that fuels the travel and tourism sector remains, but which goes on to explore the ways in which consumer behaviours are shifting, both in response to the pandemic and in relation to concerns about the impact that travel has on the wider environment. The study considers changes in booking trends, what consumers consider important for a holiday experience and how consumer profiles are changing.

The latest Expedia Trends Report finds that travel search volumes saw little overall change during Q3 but that there are encouraging signs of travellers’ willingness to visit cities showing improvements and an increase in business tourism demand. The majority, 70%, of searches were for travel within a 0-30 day window

The Excerpt from the latest UNWTO Barometer pulls together the latest data on the volume and value of international tourism and sentiment among its panel of tourism experts. While some destinations saw signs of life in international tourism in June and July 2021 the overall picture remains one of diminished international tourism, with inter-regional and especially domestic travel being the mainstay for the tourism industry in many parts of the world.

The key finding is that while residents in key long-haul markets for Europe are more confident than was the case a year ago, they remain cautious about visiting in the immediate future.

9,000 consumers across 9 global markets were surveyed in February 2021 to better understand consumer sentiment regarding the need to provide digital health information when travelling. Millennials were the most likely to say they would book international travel soon after restrictions are eased with Baby Boomers the least likely to do so. 91% of those polled said there would be some circumstances where they would be comfortable using a digital health passport in order to travel. However, key concerns were the risk that personal information would be hacked, privacy concerns and a lack of transparency and control over where data might be shared

The latest Expedia Trends Report cites strong global search growth, rising international searches and lengthening search windows. During the past three months searches for city destinations have shown strong growth, although beach destination searches remain strong, which is to be expected given the onset of the Northern Hemisphere summer.

A study which finds that while general consumer confidence is on the rise, few in key long-haul source markets for Europe are minded to travel far from their home country during the next few months. Those not planning an international trip cite safety concerns relating to COVID-19 while those saying they are planning a trip in the next few months remain uncertain about the exact timing.

Findings from an online survey exploring the intentions of those in Brazil, China, Japan, Russia and USA to take a long-haul trip in the first four months of 2021 and the concerns that potential travellers are expressing. While those in China were keen to start exploring outside their region those in Japan were most hesitant. Among those indicating a lack of travel intention concerns regarding exposure to COVID-19 was a key barrier with this group also expressing uncertainty about a visit to Europe within the next year or two.

Online research undertaken in late 2020 across key source markets for Ireland (GB, USA, Germany and France) that found continued unease with taking European holidays at present but reaffirmed that most retained a strong underlying appetite for travel. Many expected vaccination to be mandatory for future travel, although not all said they were willing to receive a vaccine. While suggesting there is a glimmer of hope for travel to resume, the research indicates that its restart date may still be some while off.

A comprehensive 54-page study that primarily presents findings from fieldwork conducted in October 2020 covering 11,000 respondents spread across 11 markets. Key findings include the onset of ‘pandemic fatigue’ leading to pent-up demand, a strong desire to protect any risk to both individual health and financial loss, with marketing content that reassures on both these fronts beneficial.

A comprehensive 12-page summary of how international tourism has been performing in different markets during 2020, revealing a likely decline of 70%-75% globally by the end of 2020. Slow virus containment, travel restrictions and lacklustre consumer confidence are cited as the major challenges, but optimism of a rebound in the second half of 2021 remains, although pre-pandemic volumes are not expected until 2023 or 2024.

A short but detailed summary of research conducted by Tourism Ireland in September across eleven European and long-haul source markets. The study found that those who travelled in summer 2020 had largely enjoyed their experience, but that sentiment had worsened compared with earlier in the summer due to higher incidence of coronavirus. The study identifies a strong preference to drive to a destination and that the majority were optimistic about undertaking international travel before the end of 2021.

A brief description of findings from the latest USTOA survey of its Active Members, with commentary comparing results in August and those of the earlier survey wave in May/June. While much of the report consists of data tables headline findings are annotated, the most noteworthy of which is that while more respondents reported bookings in the past 60 days were increasing than declining the gap had narrowed significantly since the previous survey.

A valuable summary from UNWTO of the impacts on international travel in the first quarter of 2020 and a look ahead to what the full impact may be during the remainder of the year. The headline is that international arrivals look set to decline by between 58% and 78%, and that as many as 120 million direct tourism jobs are at risk.

A set of charts and tables that describe the findings from a USTOA survey investigating the extent to which tour operators were seeing demand return, and when DMOs reckoned their destination would reopen. Topics include expectations on group size restrictions and whether national or international protocols were set to be adopted.

ETC has for some time monitored the sentiment of potential visitors to Europe from key long-haul origin markets, and in the latest Wave of the study the survey shines a light on prospects for the peak summer period of 2020, revealing the extent to which COVID-19 may be narrowing travel horizons.