Top 4 Tips for Travel after the Covid-19 Pandemic

The tourism industry will never be the same after the coronavirus pandemic. According to Tourism Economics, international demand for travel will not return to its usual pace before 2023.

The World Tourism Organization predicts a drop-in tourist visits of at least 30% in 2020, from a record 1.5 billion last year. Given the decline in passenger numbers, many airlines are keeping nearly two-thirds of their fleets on the ground. While the majority of carriers must fill their planes to 70% to achieve profitability, we could see in the coming months a price increase of 50% on flights.

The pandemic impact on tourism will continue

The health crisis caused by the Covid-19 has touched the heart of the whole world. To date, human activities are “slowing down”. Getting around freely, even within your own country, can be complicated. At the international level the difficulty is even greater, since border crossing is extremely regulated. In order to avoid further contamination with the coronavirus, a large number of countries are closing their borders and imposing a quarantine on visitors. Travel abroad is thus accessible to a tiny amount of travellers and international tourism activity is very strongly impacted.

The pandemic, still very active in many countries, seems however to give way to a gradual return to life in others. Deconfinement is slowly settling in and making plans seems possible again. Travel should be part of it! Our way of travelling will probably be different, and solutions will be put in place to protect the health of everyone and that of our planet.

Organize a trip after or during the Covid-19 pandemic

While waiting to be completely rid of the virus at the international level, a partial and gradual resumption of tourist activity is envisaged by many countries. Travelers should take precautions and plan their trips with great hindsight and caution.

Following are some tips and recommendations for planning your next trip:

1. Follow official recommendations

Before considering a departure abroad in this exceptional context, we invite you to inform yourself and follow the official recommendations of your country of residence and the country of destination. It is important to get information from official sources whose content is updated regularly. Information about the Covid-19 pandemic is evolving rapidly, so you must follow the impacts of the health crisis in real-time and during your trip, also stay well informed.

2. Book with free cancellation or modification possibilities

First of all, if you have not yet booked your trip and are about to do so, we advise you to pay special attention to the conditions of purchase. In this context of crisis, it is strongly recommended to book with free cancellation and modification options. Indeed, depending on health conditions at the time of your trip, it may be cancelled due to measures taken by the government of your country or that of your destination.

Regarding transport tickets (plane, train, bus, boat) booked independently of the stay, reimbursement and cancellation procedures are put in place by each company. They are different if the cancellation of the trip is on the initiative of the company or if it is your own will.

3. Protect yourself and others

It is essential that each traveller secures their travels by protecting themselves and others. All the countries of the world are recommending barrier measures to the population to adopt to preserve the health of all. Among them, we find:

• Wearing a mask
• Wash your hands very regularly
• Cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue
• Use disposable tissues
• Greet without shaking hands and avoid hugs
• Respect a distance of 2 meters between each person

It is up to everyone to travel while ensuring their own health security, and to those involved in the trip to put in place devices to stop the spread of the virus: marking on the ground to ensure physical distancing, disinfection of collective places after each visit, restriction of the number of people during group activities, increased chlorine level in swimming pools, etc.

4. Subscribe to travel insurance

Faced with the Covid-19 health crisis, taking out travel insurance may be essential. Indeed, its guarantees are intended to protect the traveler throughout his trip.

The coronavirus pandemic makes us more aware than ever of the capital importance of leaving “insured”, an unforeseen event of any kind can happen. Travel insurance could thus come to your aid in emergency situations and give you access to quality care on site.

Healthcare systems in countries around the world are very disparate, and health care costs can represent very high costs in some states. The most important guarantee of your travel insurance should be for medical expenses, otherwise, in the event of a health problem, you may have to face (very) large expenses. Your travel insurance contract must be able to take care of emergencies, and of course all costs related to the Covid-19 disease. It must therefore cover the costs of general practitioners and specialists, pharmacy, analyzes, X-rays, possible hospitalization, etc.

Travel insurance allows travellers to enjoy their vacations more calmly. Before taking out an insurance contract, we recommend that you read the terms and conditions to understand what is covered and what is not. Do not hesitate to ask questions to fully understand the guarantees offered.

Note that in some countries travel insurance is compulsory. Indeed, it may be required for a visa application, just like a valid passport to obtain the right to enter certain territories. This obligation could become common in this exceptional health context.

Change the way you travel

The Covid-19 health crisis has resulted in ecological awareness for many travellers. Some now want to change their travel habits, to minimize their impact on the planet and particularly climate change. Many people are getting ready to travel less and do it in a more thoughtful way. A new form of tourism seems to be emerging: less mass tourism, more real, intense and unforgettable life experiences.

To date, the tourism industry is massively affected by the Covid-19 health crisis. Rest assured, the world of travel is not doomed to disappear, but it is indeed forced to adapt. We must expect new behaviours from travellers as well as from those involved in travel. New demands will be imposed on us and it will of course take time for the travel world to recover from this crisis, although we are sure it will (let’s be positive!).

One thing is certain, this terrible test of the Covid-19 will not make you want to travel and many of the trips planned for 2020 may be postponed to 2021.