• In a post-pandemic market, travel companies need to create and capture demand for leisure travel. We have identified 6 key ways for them to do this.
  • In the short-term the travel industry will be characterized by a new kind of travel customer whose expectations and preferences will drive demand.
  • The travel market’s recovery is largely dependent on the speed of the global vaccine rollout and it will return, primarily, as a leisure market.
  • Travel companies need to reposition themselves for the post-pandemic market by activating a new strategy based on leisure travel.

The whole travel industry is grappling with the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel priorities have changed radically for both leisure and business customers—with dramatic consequences for airlines and hospitality businesses.

An end to the pandemic may be on the horizon. But will the travel industry ever look the same again?

Many believe the Summer of 2021 will be a strong boost to recovery. However, business travel—the staple of the global travel industry—is likely to recover much more slowly. To survive the next few years, airlines and hoteliers must adapt quickly to capture the opportunities in this new industry landscape.

The imperatives? To refocus the strategy around leisure travel. (download report)

New post-pandemic travel trends

The pandemic fundamentally changed the priorities, values and behavior of travelers—whether by necessity or choice. Unsurprisingly, the emphasis is now on traveling as safely and healthily as possible. But consumers are also much more aware of the environmental and societal impact of their travel choices, building on a trend that predates the pandemic. There are four key areas of change:

  1. Integrated personal wellness - Health and wellbeing are now priorities for travelers. Every business now has to be a wellness business.
  2. Living for local - The pandemic has refocused people’s attention on their local communities. Domestic travel will be a priority for leisure travelers in the short term.
  3. Doing real good - Travelers in the post-COVID era are looking for sustainable experiences that blend their own need for wellness with that of the planet.
  4. Reinventing connection - Whilst people have been connecting virtually throughout the pandemic, there’s no substitute for seeing loved ones face to face.

New travel market challenges

What do the next twelve months hold for airlines and hospitality businesses? So much depends on the speed of the global COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Amazing progress is being made in some countries, while others are lagging.

In addition, the profile of demand has changed fundamentally—and in some ways permanently—as companies around the world realize much of their business can be done remotely. The need to travel and stay overnight for a face-to-face meeting will likely be much lower. So the travel market is now, in effect, a leisure market. And that’s a structurally smaller market than airlines and hotel companies have been used to operating in.

This structural shift changes how those companies need to go about attracting, converting and retaining customers. It also means they need to think creatively about what to do with underutilized assets.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world's leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent- and innovation-led company with approximately 733,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world's leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible outcomes because of our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song. These capabilities, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Related