Trends that will continue to shape Travel in 2022
Eva Satkute Stewart
Global Managing Partner at GSIQ, Voice of the T&T Industry, Business Leader | Market & Brands Research | Social listening | Experiential tourism | Sports tourism | Sustainability | TTRA Committee Member
In this piece, we?look?at?some of the key insights we’ve learned from our travel?research?in 2021,?highlighting?the trends sweeping the?travel and tourism sector?during one of its most unpredictable?and challenging?periods.
The intent for domestic travel?in 2021
Data from?YouGov Global Travel Profiles , which tracks global consumer sentiment and attitudes towards travel daily?across 25 markets?shows?that between?November?2020 and?November?2021,?intent for domestic trip, for both business and leisure, rose from 51% to 56%?among global consumers.?
Zooming in to individual markets?indicates?that?during this period, domestic travel intent increased from 37% to 47% in the US (+10), 46% to 51% in the UK (+5)?and?54% to 58%?(+4)?in France.??
In the eastern market,?intent for domestic travel?has been slightly less pervasive. In?Australia,?where restrictions were?tight for most of the?year, domestic?travel intent?saw a 2-point?decrease?from 59% to 57%, while in Singapore?it rose from 17%?to 24% at its highest point in 2021.??
Over the same period,?domestic travel intent?dipped in Japan from 41% to 40%. In the?UAE, this intent remained unchanged (November 2020: 40%;?November 2021: 40%).
Our?International Travel & Tourism Report – 2021 ?provides?further insights on?consumer travel preferences across 25 global markets to?identify?the nuances that will prove most lucrative for industry players to focus on.
UAE records the highest appetite for international travel in 2021?
Between November 2020 and November 2021,?UAE recorded the highest?appetite for international travel, for business and leisure,?among the key markets?in our survey.?
We found that?between November 2020 and November 2021,?growth in the?appetite?for international travel among consumers in Europe was less pervasive than those in the?Middle?Eastern market.?
Intent for international travel in the US registered a?3-point rise during this period (November 2020: 15%; November 2021: 18%).?On the other end of the spectrum, appetite for flying overseas?was found to be considerably low among consumers in Asia during this period (Australia: 24% vs 25%; Singapore: 33% vs 33%;?Japan: 6% vs 6%).
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What influenced people’s decision to travel this year??
Globally the biggest motivator for travel in 2021 was to see friends and family (36% of global consumers said so). After lockdowns or travel restrictions people were eager to see their loved ones and millions of families reunited. However, almost the same number of people (35%) were eager to hit the beach, a trend that we expect to see in 2022 too. The number of people who are looking to combine relaxation with sightseeing activities is also on the rise. Whilst many ventured out to more remote locations, around 26% of global respondents said they prefer City breaks, 21% said they're keen to travel to explore Culture and history, and 13% prefer a shopping holiday.
More specifically for the US, we?focused on?the?top post-vaccine travel and vacation trends?in the US. ?In this report, we shed light on the rise of local tourism, the increase in demand for air travel and places that catch the eye of potential air travelers.
How does sustainability and wellness fit into travel??
With sustainability being?an important issue?in 2021, we also looked at?Responsible Travelers?across key markets ?and the advertising channels that catch their attention.?The data shows?that when it comes to travel advertisements,?this audience?considers?social media most effective in grabbing their attention (41%).
But,?why should?travel brands care??In our fall update on the travel and tourism?sector , we found that?more than a third of US adults are willing to pay more for a sustainable vacation (37%), indicating?additional opportunities?for marketers?to?attract new customers and offer premium products/services.?
Family vs.?celebrities:?Who’s more influential in promoting travel services and products??
We've established that several factors play a role in someone’s decision to travel, including price, quality and safety.?But large shares of consumers are also swayed by the recommendations from people they trust such as friends and family.?
YouGov data?reveals?that?roughly three?in ten consumers globally (29%) say that the strong recommendation of someone they trust ?plays?an important role?in choosing an airline to fly with.?Our data also found that consumers globally also factor in such recommendations when it comes to booking?hotel accommodation ?(36%).?
Having said that,?it’s?not just friends and family?who influence?consumers to opt for travel products and services.?A survey across 17 key markets showed that close to a fifth of consumers believe that celebrities are effective at promoting travel products and services ?(18%) – with consumers in India and the UAE leading this list of audiences.
While new strains of the virus continue to pose a challenge to the travel industry,?it’s?possible that consumer sentiment around travel is poised to change?once more. YouGov will keep tracking these trends to help travel brands and marketers?understand?more about the latest audience?behaviours and attitudes.