I can almost guarantee that the answer to “where are you going on vacation?” will not be a “staycation” anytime soon. At this point in our stay at home orders I am sure we are all daydreaming of a trip of any sort with a pal or a confidant, so here’s the million-dollar question, will you be flying or driving to your destination? If your email inbox is anything like mine, it is currently flooded with airline offers that have attractive pricing to get passengers on flights, however it is uncertain when travel and tourism will return to “normal” after COVID-19.
According to CNBC, air travel has dropped more than 95% as a result of the pandemic, which led to Delta and United Airlines reporting their first quarterly losses in more than five years. Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian stated that revenue this quarter looks to be 90% less than expected and it could take two to three years for business to recover.
We’ve always heard the saying “flying is safer than driving,” which is still the case when it comes to crashes; however, driving may now be the safer option for obvious reasons. According to Longwoods Int’l & Miles Partnership, 82% of travelers have changed their plans to travel within the next six months, 22% of which changed from flying to driving. Of course, this only applies if your destination is within driving distance. It is anticipated that leisure travel after the coronavirus will likely start with road trips close to home or in neighboring states. Here’s another question to consider, will you likely stay in a vacation rental such as a cabin or Airbnb, or a hotel? It is suggested by travel experts that there will be a lean towards private vacation homes over hotels where the volume of people is significantly less, but how long will this be our new “normal?” Clearly it is a personal level of comfort before we decide to travel as freely as we did before, but as a whole no one knows how long it will get back to the way it used to be.
