Post Pandemic Travel Trends that will Re-define Travel and Tourism as we know it
7 Travel Trends that will Re-define Travel
Travel as we know it, is going to change drastically, and for good. 2020 has given us time to take a step back, and re-think on our activities. There were plenty of destinations that faced the brunt of over-tourism in the past, and this lock-down has helped restore the balance that had been lost.
Going ahead, travellers will be more conscious in their travel related choices. They will look out for more offbeat destinations, away from the crowd, and will yearn for more meaningful experiences.
With travel slowly getting back on track, here are 7 such post pandemic travel trends, which I feel, will re-define travel and tourism as we know it.
Domestic Tourism over International Vacations
Travelling that too internationally, is hardly something that people are looking forward to these days, primarily because of the dynamic nature of travel restrictions, that keep on changing. Instead, people are starting to take interest in less heard off places, in their own backyard.
More so, lesser known and lesser crowded destinations that have a more nature and outdoor oriented character, have become more attractive in 2020. Be it trekking, camping and hiking in the Himalayas, or visiting some of the best national parks in India, nature-oriented travel is more appealing than city-oriented travel.
Choosing such nature-oriented destinations, also ensures that you maintain a safe distance from others.
Also, going local is going to help pump in money into the local economy.
Road Trips
Not only is taking a road trip the safest mode of travel going forward, it gives more opportunities to the travellers, to just re-wind and re-connect at their own pace.
The best thing about road trips is that there’s no fixed itinerary, no time frame and no crowd involved, and taking a road trip to an offbeat destination is an enriching experience.
Don’t you agree?
Experiential Micro – Holidays (7-10 days)
You know that old age habit of saving and going for one long and grand trip in a year, well that’s going to change, moving forward. What’s going to happen, is that people are going to be splitting that one long haul trip, into multiple micro holidays, or short haul trips of 7-10 days, and that too, to offbeat places, closer to home. If there’s one thing that 2020 has taught us, is that travel and freedom is indeed a luxury.
For example, people in South India, might prefer taking a 7 Day Road Trip to Kerala, whereas people in North India, might prefer doing the 7 – 10 Day Road Trip to Uttarakhand. People in West Bengal, on the other hand, might end up taking these Road trips to Offbeat Himalayan Destinations.
It’ll be safe to say that in the post pandemic world, travellers will be opting for such mindful micro holidays that are rewarding in nature, where emphasis will be given on experiences more than anything else.
Staycations / Workcations
This is one of the things that will help revive the tourism industry the most. Working from home has become the new norm, and that is irrespective of location. All one needs is a stable internet connection, a conducive workspace, and they are good to go.
With the current situation, it’s safe to bet that a lot of people are dying for a change in their surroundings, and there’s nothing better than taking a stay-cation or rather a work-cation, to a quaint location, surrounded by nature.
The New Normal – Social Distancing | Safety and Sanitization
As health and safety will be the most important aspect related to travelling in the post pandemic world, having a mask on or using sanitizers every now and then and maintaining social distancing, will be something that travellers themselves will need to take care, for their own health and safety, especially if they plan on travelling.
Travellers also might end up staying at those places that have effective safety and sanitization guidelines in place which are enforced by the staff at all points of contact.
Flexible Booking
With things changing at a dynamic rate, the ability to make any flexible bookings – be it for accommodation or for transportation, is going to be a complete game-changer. It works both ways, the business owners can take bookings for the future with an advance payment, and the traveller gets cheap deals, while having the flexibility to change dates due to any unforeseen travel restrictions.
Contactless Payments
Just like how demonetization led to the rise in digital payments, similarly the current turn of events, have led to the rise of contactless payments.
While contactless payments have become the norm in many countries, contactless payment is going to be the game-changer in the Indian market, with the introduction of SBI Card Pay, a mobile payment solution that allows the users to make fast and secure payments of up to Rs. 2000, without the need of entering PIN & by simply tapping your phone! With this new way of making payment, you don’t have to carry your physical credit card with you anymore.
How can I make payments using SBI Card Pay?
One may ask!
Simply by using the SBI Card Pay feature present on the SBI Card Mobile App and tapping your Android smartphone on an NFC enabled Point of Sale (PoS) machine.
Here’s the step by step guide on making contactless payment with your SBI Credit Card using the SBI Card Pay feature:
- Register your SBI Credit Card for the SBI Card Pay feature on your SBI Card Mobile App
- Unlock your Android phone
- Tap your phone on the PoS machine & pay!
On successful payment, you will receive a payment confirmation SMS on your registered mobile number.
But is it secure?
Yes, not only is it fast and safe (no physical contact involved), but also secure, as it authenticates the transaction by verifying your android smartphone screen lock, fingerprint or PIN. The App further encrypts the card information that is transmitted to the merchant’s PoS machine. Hence, the physical credit card information is never shared nor exposed at the PoS machine.
Intrigued? Check out this video about SBI Card Pay.
So, what are you waiting for?
Go Contactless and start using SBI Card Pay today!
In case you are interested to know more about the various other contactless payment offerings by SBI Card such as Scan & Pay, Contactless SBI Credit Card, click here.
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These are great insights, I completely agree with these trends! I am just missing my traveling days
This is something i was searching for. Thanks for this article, I completely agree with these trends. These are great insights.
Yes, a lot will change in the travel industry. But I feel this will only be for the better. Social distancing, good hygiene, contactless payments are all good. Thanks for writing this excellent article.
I’m desperate to get away, however UK restrictions in in terms of isolating when I return have really put me off. I think I’m going to have to settle for exploring the UK some more – which inot a bad thing I suppose. We often take for grated what’s on our doorstep.
Domestic travel is going to pick up for sure. There is a new concept of backyard travel gaining some traction in the western countries. Thanks for the insightful post.
That something I am searching about… indeed there has to be a good post-pandemic vacation.. thanks for sharing your ideas…
Very valid points. things are going to be quite different now with new priorities. nicely written
Completely agree with all these. Domestic travel is definitely going to be the trend. Increased emphasis on sanitation and social distancing is something that is already visible in various adverts. Contactless payments and check -in will be the norm and yes, SBI cards sounds like the perfect option for it. Hope we can get on board with all this soon and get around safe and sound.
I can’t stress more on the fact that local tourism is taking over so much. It is so not cool to get your tickets cancelled and being in doubt till the last minute whether your trip will happen or not. It is such a pain! Somehow I’ve always been only on micro-holidays. My longest trips have been for probably 9 days. Indeed they are easy to work-out and they are more family friendly – kids are better with shorter trips than being away from their routines for weeks together. Contactless payments are definitely the way to go here on. My husband already has an SBI card, looks like I should get one too.
Interesting thoughts on travel after the pandemic. I like your observations. 2020 is a challenging year for the whole world, and the epidemic will undoubtedly have a significant impact on travel styles. The plus is that local trips will gain in importance. I agree that road trips give more opportunities for travelers. It is my favorite type of travel. I love that working from home has become more popular.
Great post! I am often thinking of how this pandemic will affect our travel plans in the future and the things that you listed here seem very logical. Road trips are probably the new trend and so is domestic travel. We can only hope that tourist industry learned some lessons from what happened and will keep airplanes, hotels and other common places clean. I also hope to see some more flexibility in the bookings That would really help.
This has so much truth to it! I actually have a conference coming up – we can’t attend in person as they went virtual. I’m thinking of going to hotel to make it a workcation type of thing. I think more and more of this will happen, but I do appreciate the chance to slow down a bit. I do miss traveling, though!
If there is one thing that I am totally vouching on are the road trips that I intend to take this year for sure .. with post pandemic travel trends now slowly taking shape .. o guess the focus would be more on backyard travel staycations and road trips for sure .. looking forward for something with u if not far this year .
True, this pandemic sure is gonna change travel patterns for at-least some time now. I can’t even imagine traveling outside the country right now, though I really wanna visit India. But one good thing like you have mentioned flexible bookings is here to stay now and for good reason. In fact major airlines here in the US have also cancelled the ticket change fee completely in the light of travel slowdown due to COVID.
I completely agree with these trends! I am seeing more local, domestic travel lately and it really does seem that travel has shifted to nature experiences more than the big cities. When I travel I tend to try to do a mix of indoor and outdoor experiences, especially for my daughter who loves the hands on museums . I have taken a couple road trips and visited a lot of the state parks around New York this summer and the crowds are definitely higher than before with everyone trying to get outdoors. I think this will continue in the next few months to years and it will take some time before people begin to feel safe traveling internationally and some of the restrictions are removed.
These are great insights and yes, I believe these trends has already started. So far in my country, the airline bookings are now flexible where you can rebook as much as 2 hours before the flight at no extra cost.
Yes, to workcations. Since I am an online freelancer, I have been doing this for the past years but I guess due to this pandemic, more people are into it. With this development, I hope tourism spots can prioritize the availability of stable internet connection.