Tracking Travel Demand And Trends

Being immersed in nature, getting active in the great outdoors, connecting with friends and family, and staying closer to home were some of the top upcoming travel trends revealed during the recent ITB Berlin NOW Convention.

After examining travel behaviour and travel plans across North America, Germany and China, the overall outlook for tourism is positive, with 70% of respondents who took part in market research data prepared exclusively for ITB, indicating they plan to travel in 2021.

“It really looks like we all want to travel again. Overall, lots of people want to travel and want to spend their money on travel, which is a good sign,” said Claudia Cramer, director of Market Research at Statista, during a session called ITB World Travel Survey: Global Tourism Demand Forecast. “Most people want to travel as soon as possible.”

And when the time comes to travel again, Peter Kautz, VP Research & Analysis said the majority of respondents indicated their travel behaviours would change in the long run with a bigger focus on sustainability, nature and the environment.

“Doing nature and outdoor trips has become much more important,” he said, adding that over 60% of those surveyed in North America and Germany stressed the importance of taking more trips in nature and engaging in outdoor activities on imminent trips. Kautz said this is also apparent across Google searches for hiking and biking tours, which have surged since the pandemic began.

For the full story, check out this week’s edition of TRAVEL COURIER.