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How has travel changed from 2021 to 2022? The answer is: a lot.
Experts say that it will take about 5 years before the level of travel and tourism reaches the level it was before the pandemic. The state of travel at the moment may suggest otherwise.
2021 was all about travelling closer to home, weekend aways, trips up north or down south and 5-hour train journeys instead of 5-hour plane rides. Safety and saving on expenses were at the forefront of how people booked their holidays.
This year is the complete opposite. It’s crazy how much being locked indoors has driven people to take opportunities and fulfil dreams more than ever - people want to go far and wide, whatever the cost and with whoever they can.
A quick look at the travel headlines really proves this - just look at the state of UK airports. Underprepared, understaffed and completely and utterly incompetent. On the other hand, people have become more demanding, challenging and impatient. It seems the situation will only get worse before it gets better, but for many people this really isn’t good enough, especially if this is the first holiday they’ve had since the pandemic.
But more travel is good news. Tourism is a huge economic booster. From the restaurants and the locals tourists' support to the jobs provided in airports and aeroplane companies. There are few losers when the tourism economy is booming.
Yet travel is changing - people aren’t just travelling more, they’re demanding more. More and more I see luxury, escapism and therapeutic promises made in holiday advertising. Companies are trying to tap into your emotions of desire and a taste for the finer things to get money from your pocket into theirs. That makes sense if you’ve been staring at your bedroom wall for about 2 years.
But a chase for the finer things leaves the question of what happens to the less fine things - cheap family holiday deals, package holidays and mimics of luxury resorts may fade away. Good or bad? Not necessarily either, it’s just a reflection of how things can change so fast.
Budget airlines seem to be taking this change very interestingly. RyanAir’s CEO has talked about making some tickets for planes standing only as a bid to entice people to travel more. He argued it was the "same as on the London Underground, handrails and straps.” Though it's been met with instant nos and negativity, it's not too unlikely to happen if the demand for luxury grows and people would rather splash out a grand on a hotel as opposed to a grand on a flight.
One thing is clear: travel changes, but people’s love of it doesn’t. With working from home still lingering, it’s no surprise that people want to take advantage of what’s out there while they can.