I keep hearing the term “green shoots of recovery” as a descriptor of the hopefulness and expected growth that determines the travel and tourism industry’s current status. These green shoots have been around for a while, everything can be seen as a green shoot when compared to the full lockdown that the industry has experienced at the start of the 2020 pandemic.
Cynicism, aside, this constant reference to the industry’s re-awakening has made me wonder, what will travel be like as the world recovers from the impacts of the pandemic? Have we said goodbye to handshakes and welcome hugs? Will we ask our friends to quarantine in a room if they come to visit after international travel? Will vaccine rates determine the next holiday destinations for many years to come?
When I started this blog series my personal challenge was to explore different realities of sustainable travel. For reasons mentioned in previous posts, I have not pursued that further and explored my surroundings through a new interest in rewilding. The time has come however to consider different green shoots than the ones I am growing in my garden.
As I dream but dare not yet book a holiday I have started to pick up a few post-pandemic trends that are giving me hope:
1. Longer trips: Farewell city hopping on a weekend, and hello longer stays. Longer trips combined with remote work for those who can are seen as a growing trend. It reduces risks and carbon footprint and allows for a better cultural immersion experience.
2. Dream destinations with close ones: People have been longing to travel, pick up where they left from or use savings to finally visit their dream destinations. Ideally with those they have bene closes to through the pandemic.
3. Living it wild: Camping, glamping, eco resorts and hobbit houses will continue to enjoy business as people socially distance and take a break from staring at a screen all day.
4. Keeping it safe: Hand sanitizers and masks are here to stay. Also, for those with a higher fear of infection, hotel chains will continue to provide high standards of cleanliness, standardized and socially distanced service thanks to contactless check ins and digital keys. I am hearing more and more from friends and family how appreciated this is.
5. Sustainability might play a role in decision-making: I can’t remember a time when sustainability experts working in the travel and tourism sector have not been monitoring traveler interest in sustainability and tried to connect it to decision-making. The value-action gap between what travelers have been thinking (i.e. ‘of course sustainability matters’) and their actions has always been quite significant. In the past couple of years there has been a shift in thinking, with movement such as Flygskam (flying shame) born from the youngest generations’ concern of climate change. It seems that recent events and COVID have brought sustainability back into focus for the general global population. Will this stick? Only time will tell but here’s to hoping anyway.
Thinking about travelling when there are so many global issues taking place (e.g. human rights violations, system failures, health crisis etc…) seems so trivial. Nevertheless, I can’t help but feel curious and eager to think about better days.
What’s more likely to happen? What have I missed? I for one will continue to dream from living room of adventurous local stays and far flung holidays.
Some of the sites consulted:
- https://wttc.org/Research/To-Recovery-Beyond
- https://www.euronews.com/travel/2021/01/13/what-will-travel-look-like-in-a-post-covid-world
