2020 was a pivotal year. Very little remains of our outward lives or internal attitudes that hasn’t been permanently touched by the epochal events of last year. Our innate desire to explore the world and experience the people and places that spark our curiosity and feed our American zest for life are no exception. Ultimately, we travel for our own reasons. The why that underpins our desire is steadfast, but the way in which we do so is now, and will forever be, completely different. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It is a different thing. It is change. Just like with 9/11, these changes will come with resistance, but in the end, the new wave of travel adaptations will keep us all safer, and ultimately keep us all traveling.
Health & Safety
From airlines to hotels, travel suppliers have taken cleanliness to whole new levels in the effort to protect both their customers and their teams. The pandemic has spawned multiple new high-tech developments that the hotel and airline industry have hit the ground running with, making many of these new technologies now commonplace.
Airline Initiatives: Some airlines, such as Qantas, have moved completely to hospital-grade sanitizers. Others, like United, have adopted state-of-the-art circulation systems, similar to those found in hospitals, which use a high-efficiency (HEPA) filter that removes 99% of airborne particles. I’m a Delta devotee and love that they have added “fogging” after every flight. This process utilizes a fog machine to aerosolize a disinfectant and disperse it throughout the entire cabin.
Hotel Initiatives: Hotels were already using hospital-grade cleansers, so the big initiative here will be a combination approach that incorporates increasing the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting with decreasing the frequency of contact. So expect to see more hand sanitizing stations, contactless check-in, digital menus, and digital room service. These aren’t going away.
Private Travel
I made a prediction about this in an article I wrote when the pandemic first hit, and it has proven to be an accurate one. Working as a luxury travel specialist, I can attest to you that private is the buzzword in luxury travel right now. Private jets, private villas, private yachts, private guides – you name it. Travelers are avoiding the crowds with exclusive experiences that not only provide peace of mind but that are also naturally conducive to a more immersive and authentic way to explore a destination.
Slowing Down
I built my business on the philosophy of slow travel. For me, slow travel boils down to mindset. It is the idea of staying in one place to explore each destination thoroughly. It is a philosophy of getting to know one area well, one destination at a time, versus seeing only a glimpse of many different destinations all at once.
It is my specialty and it is my passion. Interestingly enough, during all of this time spent we’ve spent at home, we have learned to appreciate and adapt to a slower pace of life. It is translating into our travel patterns as well. In my own practice and when I speak to colleagues and industry peers, we are all noticing this shift. Rather than rushing from one destination to the next on a big highlight tour, travelers are trending towards spending more time in fewer locations. For my two cents, I also think this stems from not being able to travel. When something we love is taken away, we tend to appreciate it more once we have it back. This brings me to my last point.
Longer Trips
For clients who are ready to get back on a plane tomorrow, or for those who have contacted me to plan their international trips for later this year and into the next, it is all about lingering longer. People have realized that they can work or school virtually anywhere…in both senses of the word. Over half the custom trips I am working on right now are for trips longer than 18 days. Only time will tell how long this trend will last, but I definitely see it continuing on for at least the next 24-30 months.
In the end, each of us has had plenty of time to reflect on what it means to travel and what makes it so life-changing. All of us are different and all of us have our own “why”. There’s no right or wrong answer, no best way to do it. There is only your way, and If you haven’t thought about it yet, I hope you make time to revisit your why. That’s when the travel magic happens!
Rachel
