1. Probing future tourists
After two years of travel uncertainty, more than a third of recently surveyed travellers want to go to a destination they have never visited. The survey attempted to understand travelers’ sentiments regarding their future travel inclinations, when they plan to travel, and what they’re looking for in a trip. Overall, the findings bring hope for tours and activities suppliers with about a fifth of travelers planning to do more guided tours than before the pandemic.
The research, a survey with more than 10,000 respondents within 18–75-year-olds from across the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Australia, Singapore and Japan, was conducted by Tripadvisor, in conjunction with Ipsos Mori and carried out in November 2021.
There’s no question, some traveler habits will change in 2022. And the industry would be wise to be mindful of these behavioral shifts.
TripAdvisor
2. Low Covid-19 cases
Overall, it seems clear that the pandemic is still impeding travellers from enjoying a full experience abroad. Approximately 7 in 10 respondents in each of the markets said that destinations that have a low number of Covid-19 cases are important when making a decision on where to travel next.
For example, one-third of the Americans said they aren’t traveling next year because of uncertainty surrounding possible travel restrictions. One-quarter of respondents said they are concerned about getting Covid-19 or exposing one of their travel partners to the disease.
3. New places
The top three most important considerations in future travel plans includes the visit to a destination and to “get immersed“ by seeing new places, having new experiences and learning about history and culture. A whopping 75% of Americans say it’s important they “see new places” when thinking about their future travel plans, nearly matching the 74% of Australians, 73% of Singaporeans and 70% of Brits who said the same.
Over a quarter of travelers in each of the five markets surveyed say it is more important now than before the pandemic to splurge on a big trip. However, doubts remain as to whether a destination has bookable tours and activities as well as if travellers are ready to spend that cash.
4. Domestic travel
Supporting previous predictions from experts across the travel sector, TripAdvisor believes that domestic travel will play a key role in rebounding the hospitality industry: “Choosing domestic destinations over international destinations next year seems to have a basis in how the world is handling traveling in the shadow of Covid-19.“
The bet on domestic destinations over international destinations next year seems to have a basis in how the world is handling traveling in the shadow of Covid-19, some of which is impacted by the discovery of new variants.
5. Guided tours
According to the survey, travellers wish to spend time in nature, relax and dine out, but one of the main areas where travelers seem to have an interest in 2022 is in self-guided cultural activities.
In the UK, 20% of travelers said they plan to do more guided cultural activities while in the US, 22% is up for a cultural tour. Similarly, in Australia and Singapore, 22% and 24% of travelers, respectively, said that they would plan to do more guided cultural travel in 2022 than they did pre-pandemic.
