The report shows that one of the main reasons for wanting access to a vaccine is to be able to travel again and reconnect with their loved ones.

“Once people realise that travelling is safe, the trips will return. But they will be very different from the period before the pandemic. Going on trips will be seen as an antidote to isolation and disconnection.

“People will not miss standing in endless queues to enter a tourist attraction. What people want is to make up for lost time and spend quality time with their loved ones. Mass tourism is actually a different form of isolation: it is anonymous, surrounded by other travellers and never really experiences the essence and local culture of a community,” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky writes in the report.

According to the same survey, travel for pleasure is the activity that people miss the most, even more than going to bars and restaurants, or watching sports or other live events, and just the idea of travelling makes people feel happier and more hopeful.

Most respondents say they are prepared to travel again: 54 percent have already made reservations, or expect to be able to travel in 2021. This includes 57 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds and 60 percent of the 30-49 age group. Still, the motivations for travelling have changed and spending time with loved ones without distractions such as mobile phones and social networks has now become the top priority. In fact, according to the same survey, the trips that people miss the most are those to visit friends and family, while business trips have been the ones that have been missed the least. 41 percent say that travelling with family or friends has become “much more” important, almost twice as many as consider that the reason for travelling is to achieve personal goals (22 percent).

According to the report, there are five main expected trends for 2021. Firstly, people want to travel to nearby destinations and to do this by car. More than half of travellers (56 percent) prefer a domestic or local destination, rather than visiting an international destination (21 percent). One in five travellers want their destination to be close enough to arrive comfortably by car.

Secondly safe travel in “vaccinated” destinations will be a significant trend when travel does resume. They will also pay more attention to medical services at the destination, such as the availability of tests and emergency services. In fact, when planning a trip, one third (32 per cent) wants “most people” at their destination to be vaccinated; 30 percent want tests available at the destination; and 29 percent want emergency medical care available.

Furthermore, due to the popularity of telework, more and more people are willing to travel outside high season and on any day of the week, in addition to prolonging their stays. This should be a key trend that we will see in 2021. In fact, according to data collected by Airbnb, bookings for stays of 28 nights or more have increased. A quarter of respondents want longer stays this year, while almost one in five (19 percent) says they have already rented a holiday home for a stay of more than 28 days since the pandemic began.

In Portugal, in addition to the Algarve and large cities such as Lisbon and Porto in the preferences for travel, more isolated regions are being highlighted, such as Manteigas, Dornes and Grândola.


Author

Following undertaking her university degree in English with American Literature in the UK, Cristina da Costa Brookes moved back to Portugal to pursue a career in Journalism, where she has worked at The Portugal News for 3 years. Cristina’s passion lies with Arts & Culture as well as sharing all important community-related news.

Cristina da Costa Brookes