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77% of consumers surveyed want to travel within the next year

The United Airlines said on Monday that its trans-Atlantic bookings for November had surpassed 2019 levels for the first time since the pandemic, following the US government announcement to allow fully vaccinated foreign visitors. This indicates not only a pent-up demand for travel, but the need for simplified travel rules in order to boost demand.

A survey conducted by global travel technology company Amadeus among 9,074 consumers across France, Germany, India, Spain, Russia, Singapore, the UAE, the UK, and the US showed that nearly 77% of travelers surveyed agreed that they were eager to travel and intended to do so in the next year. As many as 50% of the respondents said they will be traveling for business before the end of the year. Of these, 72% of Indian travelers said they wanted to travel in the next one year.

The study also found that 35% of the respondents agreed that the current international restrictions and guidelines around where and how to travel were confusing and unclear, thereby making them less likely to book and travel, and another 27% said they will not be traveling because of these reasons. 37% of travelers in India and 40% of those in Singapore felt the same.

But most are likely to travel domestically or to short-haul international destinations, rather than flying to a far-flung country. For example, Spanish (64%), British (56%) and German (62%) respondents said they expect to travel to Europe for leisure. Similarly, Singaporean travelers surveyed were the most likely to travel within Asia (excluding the Middle East) for leisure (55%) in the next year and US travelers surveyed were likely to travel within North America for leisure (53%).

Technology and innovation seem to be key in building travel confidence and the recovery of the travel industry, found the survey. Only 3% of respondents said their decision to plan a holiday wouldn’t be influenced by technology. The top five technologies that would boost confidence to travel in the next 12 months included : mobile applications that provide on-trip notifications and alerts (44%), self-service check-in (41%), contactless mobile payments (41%), automated and flexible cancellation policies (40%), and mobile boarding (40%)