What Changes Are Ahead for Tourism?

How can the coronavirus change tourism?

Greater awareness of the risks involved in travelling and of the methods of mitigating them – these are just some of the changes that may occur in tourism. When we return to travelling on a mass scale, and sooner or later that will certainly happen, we will certainly then travel more safely, more consciously and more attentively. – comments on the situation Ewa Gajewska from CT Poland.

The coronavirus and the future of tourism

To say that the crisis related to the global spread of the virus will change tourism is an understatement. Tourism has come to a standstill. Probably none of us remembers skies so empty of planes, or times when the only journeys we take are the sentimental ones, posting childhood photos online.

It's true, there's no point hiding it, we all have more free time now and we use it in various ways. We plan new destinations, put together new itineraries. Of course, we wonder what changes this will bring and how we will cope with this crisis. We, as a fairly large tour operator, will manage, but we are especially worried about small, one-person companies, our agents, tour leaders, guides. And of course also about our foreign contractors. – says Ewa Gajewska from the travel agency CT Poland, which specialises in exotic outbound tourism.

Solidarity tourism in a crisis

Tourism is a system of interconnected vessels. We have to fly somewhere for our holidays, we have to sleep somewhere, eat something. On site we use local and public transport, visit museums, buy souvenirs. Behind all this are concrete financial resources and concrete jobs. When we travel, many people have work. We cannot forget about this. This is precisely solidarity tourism, which in current times is taking on particular significance.

We at CT Poland prefer to use smaller, intimate hotels set up by local citizens of Burma, Vietnam or Laos. They are all waiting longingly for the return of tourists, because their livelihoods are also at risk. – says Ewa Gajewska. When the virus appeared, everyone thought that China would be a destination crossed off for many months, but two months have passed and China has dealt with the threat almost in textbook fashion. Similarly, incidentally, with other Asian countries, Japan or Taiwan. So it may turn out that while tourism in Asia returns to normality more quickly, travellers from Europe will have their skies closed for longer. – adds Ewa Gajewska from CT Poland.

Changes in tourist behaviour

And how will tourists themselves change? The experiences gained during the pandemic may cause a greater increase in awareness of civilisational threats, particularly those related to health. As a result, some people planning trips will actively follow information on the current state and health recommendations in the countries that will be the destination of their journeys. The increased need for safety may also influence broader interest among tourists in the package of information received directly from the organiser of a given trip.

Tour operators are legally obliged to inform clients about possible health threats in the regions of the trips they offer. In addition, they can – as our agency does – prepare a complete set of practical tips enabling good preparation of travel prophylaxis, particularly if we are heading to distant and exotic corners of the world. – comments Ewa Gajewska from the travel agency CT Poland.

It must also be remembered that each of us has a different comfort zone, and as a result different things make us feel safe. Despite civilisational threats resulting from military conflicts or increased crime in given countries, people still travel as tourists to Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, although of course these are not mass trips but individual ones, and in the other direction, for example to Venezuela or Brazil. After all, few people think about the fact that the murder rate in Brazil is 50 times higher than in Poland. This does not spoil our holiday plans. Statistically, the threat is in fact small or negligible, but it is worth making conscious decisions about choosing a given tourist destination. Awareness of the threat, the emergence of a new virus that, as specialists predict, will stay with us for a long time, will certainly change the way decisions are made and the way we prepare for this threat. It may happen that before long the new coronavirus will simply be one of the diseases we mention in the same breath alongside flu, tetanus or malaria, which must be taken into account when planning a trip. We are not afraid of flu in China, we are not afraid of malaria in Malaysia, we know that the threat exists and we know how to deal with it. Perhaps soon, which a vaccine will certainly help with, it will be the same with the new virus.

Greater attention to hygiene and health while travelling

New hygiene habits of travellers

How the crisis is changing tourism and travellers' behaviour

Once tourist traffic resumes and after the period of refraining from travelling to countries where the number of coronavirus cases was rising rapidly, many tourists will certainly pay greater attention to proper prophylaxis and hygiene while travelling, and to observing its basic principles. As a result, future tourists may be better prepared before setting off for distant regions of the world, where climatic and sanitary conditions and social customs differ significantly from those to which they are accustomed – that is, mostly European ones. Some of them may go a step further and decide, before departure, to consult a doctor at a travel medicine or tropical medicine clinic. Contact with a specialist clinic will make it possible to determine the scope of mandatory and recommended protective vaccinations for travel to a selected country, as well as the use of malaria prevention measures or the preparation of a first-aid kit.

Growing awareness among travellers

Every major crisis on the tourism market brings with it a growth in awareness. After the bankruptcies of several large travel agencies, tourists became aware of the existence of the Tourist Guarantee Fund, which protects their payments. After several reported cases of grossly insufficient insurance purchased by a traveller and the problems that resulted from this, clients of travel agencies, but also individual travellers, are making decisions about insurance more consciously.

For several years we have been observing increased interest in raising the insurance amount and purchasing the additional service of cancellation cost insurance. This makes us happy, because it means that clients approach these matters more consciously. I also have the impression that this high awareness is more often the domain of travel agency clients than of individual travellers. I read with horror the posts on forums used by travellers, where people travelling for weeks, sometimes months, around Asia or South America with a backpack – usually young people – mock the naivety of those buying insurance, calling it completely unnecessary. I myself, travelling as a tour leader for over a dozen years, have unfortunately many times needed to use insurance. I can't imagine what would have happened if it hadn't been there. – says Ewa Gajewska.

It can be expected that the current situation will strongly influence the awareness of the decisions made in this respect as well. If anything good can come out of the current crisis, it may be precisely this. Greater awareness of the risks involved in travelling and of the methods of mitigating them. If we return to travelling on a mass scale, and sooner or later that will certainly happen, we will certainly then travel more safely, more consciously and more attentively.

Summary

The article analyses the impact of the pandemic on the tourism industry. The expert Ewa Gajewska from CT Poland points out that the crisis will force a growth in awareness of health threats and greater attention to hygiene while travelling. Tourists will more often use travel medicine clinics and follow sanitary recommendations in destination countries. A return to normality may come sooner in Asia, which dealt with the virus in textbook fashion.

The crisis also shows the importance of solidarity tourism – trips support local communities in Burma, Vietnam or Laos. The authors draw attention to the growing role of insurance and conscious choices of destinations, remembering that the statistical risk of threats is sometimes small.