Travelling in Post pandemic era :
Hi everyone.. hope all r doing good and staying at home safely in covid-19. This time I come up with another update in travelling .
Indians, among the most travelled before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, are the most confident in the world about resuming their international adventures once they allowed to do so. top the list of people most eager to travel internationally in the next 12 months with 77 % saying they are keen to travel, followed by Thais 70 %,Indonesians 60% .
Singapore is the most favoured destination for people living in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong , the Philippines when it comes to post-lockdown travel. This was revealed in newly released study conducted by social research agency Blackbox Research, data provider Dynata and language partner Language Connect, 'Unravel Travel: Fears & Possibilities in a Post Coronavirus (COVID-19) World.'It examines the sentiments, preferences, &expectations of 10,195 people across 17 countries regarding travel in a post-COVID-19 world. However, with bad news continuously emanating from the travel industry, travellers will have to put their plans on ice for the foreseeable future as the 'new normal' in travel is still some time away.
Two weeks ago, travel booking giant Expedia reported a steep 82% revenue decline to USD 566 million in the second quarter (for period ending June) & USD 577 net loss. A year earlier, the firm had a net income of USD 276 million. Last week, French hotel group Accor which owns luxury accommodation brands such as Swissotel, Sofitel and Raffles posted half-year losses of 1.5 billion euros (USD 1.77 billion) compared with a profit of 141 million euros one year ago. In addition, it announced that it was slashing 1,000 head office jobs worldwide out of a global corporate headcount of 18,000.
last week, Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, which is 49 % owned by Delta Air Lines, filed for bankruptcy protection in New York. This is the 2nd airline owned by Branson that is seeking the protection of courts, the first being Virgin Australia.
Singapore Airlines reported a historic loss in its latest fiscal quarter (for the period April to June) of SGD 1.12 billion (USD 812 million). Following that, it announced pay cuts for all management and rank-and-file staff, as well as an early retirement programme for ground staff and pilots. Earlier, with support from government investment arm Temasek and other shareholders, it has managed to raise some SGD 15 billion (USD 10.9 billion) to weather the COVID-19 storm. Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA) does not expect air travel to be restored to 2019 levels until 2024.
With the COVID-19 virus rampaging throughout the world causing people to shelter in their homes for most of the last few months, the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Tourism Barometer showed a precipitous fall of 98% in international arrivals in May this year when compared with May 2019. The Barometer also uncovered a 56 % decline in tourist numbers for the first five months of this year, translating into a loss of 300 million tourists & USD 320 billion lost in international tourism receipts. This is more than three times the loss during the global financial crisis of 2009. A majority of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) panel of tourism experts expect international tourism will only recover in the second half of 2021.
When travel can resume under a 'new normal' travel framework, the 'Unravel Travel' survey found that with a score of 76, India and Thailand are tied for top position for nationalities most confident of travelling.
Asian countries dominate the countries that scored above the global average of 61, including China (69), Indonesia (65), Singapore (64). France and Germany also rated above the global average.
At the other end of the spectrum, Japan was rated the most cautious with a score of 40, followed by the Philippines (43), Hong Kong (50). In another finding, the 'Unravel Travel' study showed that contactless travel is something travellers would expect once they can resume travelling. 76% of respondents indicated that their preferred destinations would be countries that offer more reliable contactless experiences. In terms of future of travel looks like, the study found that e-boarding passes (41%), touchless lavatories (43 %), contactless journeys between airports and hotels (40 %), no more middle seats in transportation (36 %) , digital health passports (35%) are some of the new ideas that global travellers hope to see implemented in the near future.
'Governments will need to play a key role in messaging and ensuring travellers' safety, as well as empowering the tourism industry through investment in new technology and innovation that would ensure a seamless, contactless travel experience that is sustainable'.
The above are the travelling in confident about the post pandaemic era of Covid -19.
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