Shifting Loyalties: Where Has All the Love Gone?

It’s no secret that the consumers’ connection to their preferred brand has frayed during the pandemic-driven downturn in travel. PwC conducted a survey in 2020 which found that 41% of consumers are likely to switch hotels, while some 40% are undecided, leaving a small minority locked into a preferred brand (Glick and Baker 2020). A 2021 survey from Accenture reported that 45% of consumers are considering shifting some or all of their spending away from current travel providers (Curtis, Quiring, Theofilou, and Bjornsjo 2021). This research and similar studies have focused on travelers overall, most of whom have significantly curtailed their traveling since March 2020. But what about those that have continued to travel at the same relative rate? Have they, too, lost that loving feeling?