BigTravel7 Survey: Travelers Reluctant to Book Flights and Cruise For Holidays

With travel bans and stringent quarantine measures implemented worldwide, traveling has become harder than before. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the travel industry — hotels, tourist attractions, and airline businesses — has plunged to its lowest in years. Due to the stale travel market, many people in the industry have lost their jobs.

• 73% of survey participants believed travel bans are effective in preventing global virus spread.
• Almost 73% said the coronavirus outbreak affected their perception of travel in general.
• More people would refrain from booking cruise trips than booking flights.

BigTravel7, a travel media, has launched a survey that aims to understand the travel market during the COVID-19 outbreak season. Exactly 1,170 travelers completed an online global survey held at the end of February 2020. The study aimed to better understand the travel market and travelers’ perspective, given the coronavirus outbreak situation.

People have shown substantial consideration for the virus, with people becoming more adaptable and flexible with their travel plans. Many passengers have changed redirected routes, canceled travel plans, and had more travel concerns than usual during the pandemic.

Part of the survey asked which continent would travelers avoid going to in the next one to two months. Asia ranks top continent to skip, followed by Middle Eastern countries, then European nations. Also, 73% of respondents believe travel bans will help prevent the coronavirus from spreading internationally — coronavirus has not yet announced a pandemic during the time of the survey fielding.

In a straightforward question, if the coronavirus outbreak affected their perception in general, almost 73% said “Yes” with more concerns. On the other hand, about 26% said “No” with no other additional regards when it comes to travel.

Staying on the Ground: Travelers Refrain Going Abroad

As the coronavirus outbreak eventually led to a  pandemic, it grew to be a global concern. Cancellation or postponements were inevitable, and delays were acceptable because of the pandemic. Health and human lives come first. We have seen the cancellation of sporting events, concerts, and many other public events — big and small — as efforts to curb the virus spread. Travel and holidays, nevertheless, were not an exemption.

When asked if respondents canceled international travel plans, only roughly 15% have said “Yes.” Meanwhile, a significant number of people were unsure and still gauging the situation to push through with their plan; 33%, the majority said, “Not yet, but maybe.”

About 17% claim to have been lucky not to have travel plans ahead, but they would cancel if they did have prior bookings. While less than 10% of the respondents who also don’t have travel plans were strong-willed and courageous to say that they would push through with their trip regardless of the coronavirus outbreak situation.

Holidays and Travel Consumer Insights

More consumers are reluctant to take a break and enjoy a holiday. Travel flights and cruise holiday sales have fallen drastically. In the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak, a poll question asked if travelers would be interested in booking a flight or a cruise within 6 to 12 weeks from the survey fielding date. Most answered, “No.”

More people would refrain from going aboard a cruise for holidays than book flights. Almost 81% of respondents firmly said, not going to have a cruise trip anytime soon. While 57% said they would not book a flight during the given timeframe.

Due to the drop in travel volume, the study revealed other touristic activities were also adversely affected and temporarily lost tourist visitors. Travelers have been said to avoid theme parks (44%), museums (36%), and national parks (8%). Meanwhile, a whopping 91% said that they would not attend sporting events like football, basketball, baseball, among many others.