Insight Hub

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.