How vacationers' mindsets will evolve in 2021
Vacations will likely be shorter than they used to be, and closer to home - think along the lines of staycations and road trips. Quieter destinations will also feature heavily. Crowded cities are out, the great outdoors is in. For many brands, their audience hasn’t necessarily changed, but their demands have
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To minimize risks when traveling this year, consumers are reevaluating the types of trips they'll take
Traveling is back on the agenda, but it'll be very different to how we remember it. In the first 10 months of 2020 alone, the pandemic cost the tourism industry $935 billion in revenue worldwide. For brands looking to recover and rebuild in 2021, it's crucial to know exactly how vacationers' mindsets have evolved. For much of the world, uncertainty made travel practically impossible last year. 2021 is a new story. Tourism and travel-focused brands that acknowledge this big picture are best positioned to take off once again. While the vast majority of consumers plan to take a vacation this year, it's a bumpy ride getting them there - and we're not just talking about turbulence. Every step of the way - from researching to returning home - Covid concerns will be on consumers' radars.
Almost always, consumers will weigh up cost and quality above anything else before making a purchase. Nowadays, Covid concerns have become a primary consideration as well. Covid concerns continue far beyond the planning and research phase. Vacationers have greater demands of travel brands than ever before.
Accor is one brand adapting to support these changing demands. Early in the pandemic, the hospitality company launched the ALLSAFE label to give guests the assurance of a third-party verified standard of hotel cleanliness. With more than 95 per cent of Accor's worldwide network utilizing these protocols, their customers are receiving the proof they're looking for.
To minimize risks when traveling this year, consumers are reevaluating the types of trips they'll take. Vacations will likely be shorter than they used to be, and closer to home - think along the lines of staycations and road trips. Quieter destinations will also feature heavily. Crowded cities are out, the great outdoors is in.
For many brands, their audience hasn't necessarily changed, but their demands have. Staycations are the order of the day. IHG, owners of Holiday Inn, recently saw the growth of staycations help push their occupancy rates up from 25 per cent to 44 per cent. The global vaccination program accelerates every day. More than 5.64 million doses are being administered daily across the globe. Most schemes focus on vaccinating older consumers first.
Understandably older - and more at risk - people are less likely to have taken a vacation last year. But with vaccine rollouts, they're showing a greater desire to book a trip right now. This isn't surprising given the importance of access to a vaccine, as a consideration when booking a trip, increases with age. With vaccine rollouts accelerating, the lifting of lockdowns on the horizon, and an abundance of pent up demand; older consumers are set to help many travel brands on their road to recovery.
More likely to have been financially affected by the pandemic, their younger counterparts - Gen Z and millennials - may be more limited when it comes to booking a holiday in the foreseeable future. While vaccines appear to signal light at the end of the Covid tunnel, concerns about it still govern consumers' holiday plans. For this reason the vast majority of vacation planners remain in the research phase. It's likely that many are waiting for the opportune moment when the Covid situation has improved. At which point, their pent up dreams of a vacation will be realized, and spontaneous trips will be more popular than ever before.
With many consumers still in the research phase, travel brands must focus on being discoverable - while this may not result in immediate bookings, it's likely to pay dividends down the road.
And there are many ways brands can do this. The vacationer of 2021 is cautious and wary of traveling again, so it's paramount they trust travel brands.
For vacation planners, this is more important than going back to a place they know (25 per cent). In these times of uncertainty, they're more likely to put their trust in brands they know rather than their own previous experiences.
Loyalty programs must assure their members that they still value them amid this travel turmoil, because now more than ever, vacationers are ready to turn to them for support. As vacation preferences change, brands should reach out to new consumers, but not at the expense of forgetting their loyal customers.
While last year was a great time of uncertainty for travel brands, 2021 represents opportunity.
