A promising, if cautious, future for travel

• Peter Brun, Chief Communications Officer at VFS Global writes how consumers are eager to step out of their homes and travel again.
• However, he says that it might be tough to shake off months of uncertainty and jump right back into the vacation-mode. He suggests a few ways in the travel industry can recover from this long spell of abstinence.

After a long pause in travel, governments, tourism boards, airlines, and hospitality brands are gearing up for the cautious, but hopeful reopening of international travel. Even though the usual annual vacation period is behind us now, both travel companies and curious travellers have not given up on their travel fervour yet, for the most part. While people are eager to step out of their homes and travel again, it might be tough to shake off months of uncertainty and jump right back into the vacation-mode. How the travel industry recovers from this long spell of abstinence will depend on how effective they are in reigniting people’s passion to see the world, and how they manage to keep the travel dream alive.

1. A healthcare-first approach

After an extended period of being extremely watchful of what they touch, breathe, and eat, people will potentially adopt a similar filter for their travel plans as well. Travel planning will now account for everything from safety standards at the airport, to local healthcare measures, hygiene practices at hotels, and most importantly, how well the destination country combated COVID-19. This means everyone in the entire value chain will be putting public health the front and centre of the brand proposition.

Brands have already started preparing for this, with initiatives such as the Zero-Touch Service Transformation by Indian Hotel Companies Ltd., which enables guests to have close to zero contact with anyone else through their stay. Another great example is the deployment of UV cleaning robots for planes by JetBlue Airways that uses ultraviolet light to disinfect aircraft between flights.

2. Test before you travel

Travel, by its nature, has an extremely high density of human touchpoints. From the time you set your foot out of the house to when you finally board your flight - you come into direct contact with dozens of people. A key component in travellers’ security will be stringent COVID-19 testing standards for all their fellow travellers as well as any transport and hospitality staff they may come in contact with.

While some governments have already made COVID-19 tests mandatory before entering their respective countries, it is important to make these tests hassle-free, easily accessible and delivering fast results. This could be done either at airports, like those offered by France, Germany, Ireland, etc. or at certified medical laboratories, in association with visa services provider VFS Global, as recently introduced in UAE, China and India. Technology like the blockchain based-health passport app CovidPass - developed by WEF Young Global Leaders - will also go a long way in reassuring travellers of their safety.

3. Reduced human contact

The halt in travel as we knew it has put considerable onus on the industry to keep up with the evolving demands of a cautious new customer and innovate by the standards of the new normal. Globally, airports have been upping their game by enabling fliers with self-service check-in kiosks, contactless sanitization of luggage, and digital modes of identification, to overall minimize human touch-points. All these measures contribute to making commuters rest easy, and further encourages potential travellers.

Delhi Airport has recently developed a contactless public health solution, “Air Suvidha”. This portal allows international travellers to declare their health status (as being COVID-free) and apply to exempt themselves from the mandatory quarantine. Another great initiative has been by Clear, a biometric ID company, which offers expedited screening at airports through a combination of biometric data, temperature readings and COVID-19 testing.

4. Remote Travel Planning

Given the general aversion to public areas and unnecessary human contact, the industry is now increasingly focused towards making travel a wholesome experience again. This means making the end-to-end journey more personalised, flexible and sustainable. The first post-lockdown trip is bound to be an anxiety-inducing experience for a traveller, right from the first step of visa applications. Options such as “Visa at Your Doorstep”, through which people can apply for their visas and enrol their biometric data from home, will go a long way in putting customers’ minds at ease. This pause is also an opportunity for travel companies to reinforce their digital infrastructure and make online planning and booking a much easier and seamless experience for travellers.

5. Travel in a bubble

Another important cog in the safe-travel machine, at least in the initial phases of reopening, will be travel bubbles. A metaphoric corridor between two or more countries, the travel bubble enables people to move between the connected countries with limited to no restrictions. It comes with the reassurance that the governments collaborating on these corridors have achieved a certain amount of success in battling and lowering the COVID-19 outbreak in their country. As an added layer of security to the bubbles, testing pre-departure still remains key and only negative-tested travellers are allowed to board a plane, while others go into quarantine. The Indian government has already established these bubbles with countries such as the UK, US, France, and Germany, and the UAE. A security blanket like this will be key in bolstering the travel spirit and be an effective advocate for international travel.

As the much-wounded travel industry attempts to stand back up on its feet, all its elements need to work together to reassure travellers that they are doing everything as a community to make travel post-COVID a safer and richer experience. Although gradual, experts expect to see a steady comeback by the travel industry, with more data-driven solutions, insightful innovations that ensure the safety of both travellers and staff, and higher efficiency and automation in overall processes and technologies. A promise that the world will travel again, albeit a little differently!