On 28th July 2020, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that air travel for the purpose of business or leisure will see a slump without any signs of recovery well until 2024. What started as a remote virus in a small province of China has now infected more than 20 million people worldwide and impacted the world's economy. Countries like New Zealand and South Korea that had combatted the virus with great strength and efforts have now seen a spike with new and emergent cases within the last two weeks. These incidents beg the question of whether air travel will recover and if yes, how long before we can go back to pre-COVID times?
Many travel websites and vacation rental providers like Airbnb have had to slash their workforce and seek government aid in order to survive. Collaborative efforts between countries to create air travel bubbles (such as the one with India and countries like the UK, USA, Germany, France, and UAE) to restart travel at least under unavoidable circumstances may contribute to an uptick in the statistics. Tourism, which comes under non-essential travel, on the other hand, remains in the dark about the future. With few months remaining in 2020, we are yet to see any changes or improvements in terms of tourism apart from a few countries in Europe or the UAE that are now promoting domestic travel to secure the livelihoods of many stakeholders involved.
The future at this point seems uncertain but everyone in the travel sector is hopeful that once the pandemic is over, there will be a sharper and faster increase in demand for air travel. Domestic bubbles, beach holidays, staycations, luxury well-being vacations, and long-term stays at private villas in island countries like Indonesia will be the popular choices among travellers for a long time before they turn to short-term hotel stays.
- Now for some notes on why I miss travelling -
If there is one thing I have realised in the past five months of lockdown (official and self-imposed), it is that my mind, body, and soul needs travel as nourishment. It is like the air we breathe. All the good things about travel - finding cheap flights, meeting new people or reconnecting with friends in far-off places, food tours along the culturally-immersive streets of a new city, and the absolute joy of checking-in your luggage in exchange for your boarding pass - come crashing down when I think about the last time I hopped on a plane.
Yes, it has been rough. For almost every person in the world, whether it be financially or emotionally. We went through extreme affinity for baking bread, whipping dalgona to amp up our morning coffee, and bouts of fitness routines only to realise that life as we knew it was not all bad. I am ready to embrace what we had with a newfound respect for a routine, surprises that have nothing to do with hand sanitisers and masks, and most importantly, my work.
My work as a travel writer gave me and those around me so much joy; unadulterated and unfiltered. I believe it will be back. And this time, I am going to take a conscious step to be more compassionate, more kind, and perceptive to more than just the scenery around me. Keeping romanticism aside, I will look at the people that inhabit a place, the people that make it what it is, and the culture every place works hard to preserve.
The future of travel is not just places to go but about building relationships, catering to both travellers and local communities, and collaborative efforts that work in a way that is responsible, sustainable, and eco-friendly. I only wait for the day when I can finally reach out to the world and be present; attuned to its problems, its concerns, and find ways to ease the same with the power of my words.
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