(TAN): Think about it, the COVID-19 pandemic has given a big push to staycations. And the hospitality industry wants to ride on this trend to bounce back from the terrible state the pandemic has left it in.
Wherever we are, most of us are largely staying put inside a building and avoiding venturing out. No going to the cinema, no bar-hopping, and no experiencing a new place up close and personal using the local public transport.
We are worried about contracting the virus, but how about just staying put at a comfortable and safe home-away-from-home with great views and access to everything we need? Sounds good, right? That is precisely why hotels and resorts around the world are promoting staycations, and simultaneously attracting customer attention to the extensive steps they are taking to minimise the chances of infections.
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“This is not a normal recession,” Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, one of the world’s largest banks, said recently. “The recessionary part of this you’re going to see down the road.”
Does that mean the worst is yet to come for the tourism industry, which has already been devastated by the ongoing pandemic? The sector is keeping its fingers crossed and trying to focus on the positive trends.
One such positive trend emerges in a survey by Elegant Resorts named The Future of Travel. It found that almost 60% of respondents were still interested in a luxury staycation, with particular interest in booking private luxury homes in the UK.
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A media report citing research by Elegant said 26% of luxury travellers claimed their travel plans remained unaffected despite the current circumstances. However, 52% respondents said they were cautious. Majority said their holiday budgets were unaffected, while 33% willing to travel in autumn this year. As much as 94% prefer luxury beach holidays, but hygiene levels at hotels and airlines and booking flexibility remain key factors.
A report on Travel Daily said staycation providers in the UK have seen a huge jump, 127% of their pre-pandemic level in June, to be precise. Citing finding by real-time personalisation and optimisation platform Fresh Relevance, the report said staycation bookings are back to its pre-pandemic levels.
This survey of 250 businesses within Fresh Relevance’s client base indicates that consumers are keen to take advantage of the ability to travel again but may not be ready to return to holidaying overseas. The hospitality industry will certainly not complain if they get more domestic customers to compensate for the lack of foreign guests.
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“We can see positive signs that the travel industry is slowly starting to recover from the pandemic. With the list of air bridges growing, consumers may be less concerned about having to quarantine upon return and more willing to travel abroad,” the report quoted Mike Austin, CEO of Fresh Relevance, as saying.
The trend of staycations is just getting started and from the looks of it, the customer figure graph is only going to climb through the later part of this year and certainly the first half of 2021. Many in the hospitality industry are banking on it.
