How do we travel during and after the ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks? The answer to this question not only affects our holiday plans as well as daily lives, but also the recovery process of the severely pressured leisure, tourism, and travel industries. Answer is never going to be easy, but one thing for sure is that in the months or probably more to come, long haul leisure will be least preferred. It means, domestic tourism is going to grow, people are more likely to stay close to homes, or at least in their country.
Governments have realised this thing as well. They are sure overseas tourists are not going to come in that numbers. Crossing borders will be an uphill task as entries are restricted and banned depending on case load of COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, governments want everyone to travel local and explore destinations within country. And, actually they want people to travel more and travel local. Therefore, they are even incentivizing domestic travel, as Japan and Italy had done.
As coronavirus fears continue to ravage Italy’s tourism industry – despite the country’s extraordinary cultural heritage – the government is subsidising some of its citizens to go on holiday in their home country. Italy was one of the first countries to reopen its borders to European Union (EU) tourists in June. Nevertheless, tourism is still suffering, with a revenue shortfall this summer predicted at top 3 billion euros. In this context, the government is trying to prop up its tourism industry – which represents 13% of the national GDP – by sending money to households earning less than 40,000 euros a year as an incentive for them to go on holiday within Italy.
Initially, Italy was one of the countries impacted the most by the coronavirus pandemic. After the health hazard erupted in China, it quickly spread to Iran and Italy. Since then, the tourism business has returned revenues which can only be described as next to nil. With 61.6 million tourists per year (2018), Italy is the fifth most visited country in international tourism arrivals. People mainly visit Italy for its rich culture, cuisine, history, fashion and art, its beautiful coastline and beaches and priceless ancient monuments. Italy also contains more World Heritage Sites than any country in the world.
Similarly, Japan launched a national travel campaign aimed at reviving battered tourism industry, although the effort has drawn heavy criticism as major cities have racked up a jump in new coronavirus cases. Japan had also been planning to relax curbs on stadiums and concert venues from August 1, allowing them to operate at half of maximum capacity, without the current 5,000-person limit. However, after some expert opinions the target date will be pushed to the end of August.
Although Japan has not suffered the rapid spread that has killed tens of thousands elsewhere, new cases in Tokyo and other cities have sounded the alarm over the virus once thought to be under control. The ‘Go To’ Travel Campaign which began on 22nd July eventually subsidises up to half of expenses, including accommodation and transport fees, with the government initially providing discounts worth 35 percent of total costs.
The remaining 15 percent will be covered by coupons to be issued after September, to be used at travel destinations for food, shopping and other travel activities, according to the tourism ministry. The Japan Tourism Agency said it will consider limiting the use of the campaign if promoting domestic trips leads to an increase in the number of new virus cases. The campaign was initially slated to begin in August, but was moved forward ahead of a four-day national holiday weekend starting from July 23, according to Akaba.
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), if worse comes to worst, more than 197 million jobs could be lost in the global travel and tourism sector due to the impact of COVID-19. The effect of prolonged travel restrictions could also wipe out 5,543 billion US dollars in the sector’s contribution to global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), equating to a 62 percent drop compared with 2019. Alarming figures – but what are the leisure, tourism, and travel industries to do?
To stop the decline and even attempt a recovery, they first and foremost need to consider and adapt to many shifts in their consumers’ behavior. Actually, travelers themselves have understood the reality that they need to stay closer to homes. A Future of Travel survey by Simon Kucher finds that summer vacation spending — both a release and a huge economic driver —is in limbo. For many Americans, vacation will be “stay-at-home,” or at least “stay close-to-home,” this summer.
Fact is that it’s not looking as if a swift improvement is waiting for the tourism sector. The experienced drop in demand will probably last a bit longer, with 30 to 35 percent of consumers surveyed not expecting to go on vacation any time soon across the US and Europe. Even when lockdowns have been lifted, only 30 percent of respondents said they will travel as soon as they are allowed to, a full 40 percent said they will only travel once they are certain that travel providers have taken appropriate measures with regards to things like health screenings and social distancing measures.
Importantly, when asked about their travel plans, 54 percent of respondents say they will take fewer international trips, while 32 percent state that they expect to go on more domestic trips following the global pandemic. But not only destinations are changing, also the transportation mode to get there: Around 35 percent of consumers expect to travel more often by car for their holiday instead of going by airplane or train (approx. 50 resp. 45 percent expect to take less planes or trains). The cruise industry will be hit hardest of all, with 62 percent of travelers saying they expect to take less cruises. Therefore, what Japan and now Italy have done, is actually following the lead coming out of people’s mind and what seems like as only hope for the tourism sector I near future.