Insight Hub

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.