Communication key to regaining confidence, while travellers express a greater likelihood to book through travel agents than before Covid-19
The majority of travellers are now ready to consider booking domestic
and international trips, but only if travel suppliers collectively
implement 10 different safety measures throughout their journey,
including fully flexible or refundable flight tickets.
This is the latest research findings from Travelport based on its
survey of 5,000 travellers across the US, UK, India, Australia and New
Zealand, as well as in-depth interviews with 29 leading travel
suppliers, including airlines, airports, hotels and car rental companies
to identify the safety measures they either have in place or are
considering implementing.
The study found that at all parts of the travel journey, it is deemed
critical to have social distancing rules, mandatory use of face masks,
and ready access to sanitising gel or wipes, face masks and gloves. The
study also revealed, however, that additional measures still need to be
implemented by airlines, airports, hotels and car rental companies to
fully restore consumer confidence.
The table below captures the 10 separate safety measures participants
of the study said they need to know have been adopted by airports,
airlines, hotels and car rental companies for those travellers to
consider domestic and international travel. The percentage figures
represent the number of travellers that said they will not travel unless
the respective measure is in place.
Air
Overall, more than half of travellers said that to consider
booking a flight, they need to know in advance that a wide array of
specific measures have been implemented by both the airport and airline.
At the airport, these include temperature checks on arrival (66%),
plexi-glass at check-in desks (58%), and managed boarding by row (56%).
When it comes to airlines, measures in high demand include enhanced
cleaning (71%) and disinfection (70%), further temperature checks before
boarding (66%), socially distanced seating (66%), and fully flexible or
refundable tickets (64%).
Hotels
For travellers to have the confidence to book a hotel room,
the study showed the majority want six specific safety measures in
place including enhanced cleaning (73%) and guest services accessible
via their mobile phone (51%).
Car
To book a car rental, according to the study, the majority of
travellers want five key safety measures in place both at rental
destinations and in vehicles including contactless car collection and
drop-off (55%).
Greg Webb, CEO at Travelport said: “This study highlights the
criticality these measures are now playing in restoring traveller
confidence. However, for the majority of travellers to return to the
skies, the industry now needs to work together to not only ensure a wide
array of safety measures are in place throughout the travel journey,
but to collectively communicate these changes to travellers using a
range of channels and merchandising technologies.”
On a country level, the study revealed demand for almost every safety
measure is highest in India. Demand in New Zealand, while still high,
tended to be the lowest across the five countries assessed. When it
comes to age groups, demand for robust safety measures was again high
across all categories, however, it was highest among baby boomers and
lowest among millennials.
Derek Sadubin, managing director, CAPA – Centre for Aviation, added
that while many suppliers including airlines have already implemented
the safety measures travellers, the industry "still have a long way to
go". He said: "Collaboration and communication are now key to restoring
traveller confidence and securing a strong and responsible industry
recovery.”
These also reveal that travellers are more likely to book through a
travel agent than before the Covid-19 crisis, with one third (33%) of
all travellers anticipating an increase in their use of travel agent
services. This trend was particularly evident among millennials (44%).
Overall, the two thirds (65%) who claimed this, said it’s because they
feel travel agents are best placed to provide them with the latest
travel safety information.
The full results of both the quantitative and qualitative components
of the research can be viewed in Travelport’s Guide to Travel Recovery
report, available from the company’s Covid-19 Resource Hub.