Early year optimism about the prospects for travel in 2020 has been washed away by Covid-19 but green shoots are being seen, according to Travelzoo.
The global holiday and leisure deals publisher revealed details of its latest weekly consumer sentiment survey on Thursday in a webinar for trade partners.
The survey looks sentiment towards travel among some of Travelzoo’s 4.8 million UK subscribers, the latest being answered by 1,700 people.
James Clarke, UK general manager at Travelzoo, said it is clear that how the sector looked in January has changed radically with the focus now on what travel looks like with Covid-19.
“We were so optimistic about 2020,” he said. “We had just exited a fairly lengthy political situation and we were looking at which destinations were going to boom.
“This period of time has washed all of those hopes away and we’re now faced with what does post-Covid travel look like.
“Holidays will likely to be reduced in number. It could potentially be that people will have only one holiday this year and they will need to make the most of it.
“That could be one of the biggest trends that comes out of this as travel is reduced. A lot of people will think about social distancing when they choose their next holiday.”
Green shoots
However, Clarke added: “The green shoots we clearly are showing is that people are still wanting to book holidays, they are wanting to travel. There is that pent up demand and that will only continue.
“We are living through unprecedented times that I hope we never have to experience again, and if we can all get through this safely and be with our families again, hopefully it won’t be too long before we are all travelling again.”
Longer durations
The Travelzoo survey found increased interest among subscribers for longer duration holidays both overseas and in the UK, indicating a reduction in the number of trips.
Clarke said the news this week of quarantine measures planned for people visiting the UK and travelling to Spain is likely to have impacted on people’s sentiment towards travel.
“We will see a swing for people pushing for 2021 and more weighted to winter months,” he said.
“The UK will see further growth potentially from July when hotels and leisure venues may be able to open up.
“This year will see domestic go up while international travel is pushed more towards 2021.”
Flexibility
A clear message from Travelzoo members is demand for more flexible deals and refund terms and the firm said it is working with suppliers to provide these.
For hotel partners providing inhouse product Travelzoo is looking to offer flexible vouchers and the ability to access an instant refund through the site in the event of a cancellation.
Clarke said the firm has also spoken to all of its third party deals partners to make sure that deposit, cancellation and refund terms are clear.
He said: “We are already working with partners who are offering fully refundable holidays already and we have already seen a good uptake.”
Clarke added he saw the market developing in two ways with cheap deals to stimulate demand, but also more curated product that drives greater value.
Influx of product
“I see us entering the most deal-laden market since 2007 and 2008. There will be a large influx of product in the market with lots of captive buyers.
“You will have two ways of approaching that. You will have the deals market where people will discount and offer more for less.
“And there will be the other side of the market which if you own the asset or you’ve got exclusivity or something that can’t be recreated you’ll be able to keep your prices up.
“If you can create those once in a life time moments, our members will always seek them out and they will be happy to part with their money for those sort of experiences.”
