Travel technology provider Sabre said Thursday (23 July) that people in the Asia-Pacific region are willing and able to travel once COVID-19 quarantine restrictions are eased and they’re allowed to cross borders. “As travel restrictions start to lift and pockets of the industry begin to recover, we are seeing traveller behaviour adapt to the new normal,” said Todd Arthur, vice president for Asia-Pacific Agency Sales Travel Solutions at Sabre. “Our findings show that, while consumer confidence in the safety of travelling is mixed, there is also a clear pent-up demand for travel among many people across APAC, as well as strong opportunities to be seized by all sectors of the travel ecosystem as we move forward.”
Sabre said its survey found that more than a third of travellers (35 percent) said they wouldn’t be travelling anytime soon, or until a COVID-19 vaccine is available, there were also positive indications for the travel industry with 45 percent of respondents saying they planned to travel within six months following the lifting of relevant travel restrictions. Of all the age groups, the survey said those in the 20 to 39 age category are the keenest to travel as soon as restrictions are lifted, with 49 percent saying they would travel within six months.
Out of the regions in APAC, South Asia has the highest percentage of travellers who indicated that they are keen to travel within a year (73 percent). The country with the most positive travel sentiment was Pakistan, with only 10 percent of travellers saying they aren’t keen to travel soon. Those in Singapore also demonstrated a strong pent-up demand for travel, with just 14 percent saying they had no plans to travel. 18 percent of respondents in Singapore said they would travel immediately, with a further 18 percent saying they would travel within 1 to 3 months.
Of the respondents who said they had no plans to travel anytime soon, or until a COVID-19 vaccine is available, the majority said that they would not be swayed by price once they do think about booking their next trip. Only 10 percent said the main factor they would consider would be competitively priced deals such as airfares or package holiday deals, while the majority (41 percent) said their main consideration was a relaxation of safety measures and protocols at a destination, such as a lack of 14-day quarantine or contact-tracing measures. Meanwhile, more than a third (35 percent) said they would consider the destination country government’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic and 14 percent said they would look at the access to and quality of medical and healthcare systems at their potential destination country.
More than a third (37 percent) of respondents said they believed air travel posed the highest risk of infection when travelling during the current COVID-19 pandemic, with cruise ships deemed to be the next riskiest mode of transport for travellers in APAC (34 percent). More women than men deemed air travel to be risky. Out of those saying air travel was the riskiest mode of transport, 62 percent were female. However, even though respondents said they thought air travel posed the highest risk, more than half (52 percent) said they would still travel via air, provided that certain safety measures were put in place like social distancing.
While travellers across APAC remain cautious about travelling, of the 44 percent who indicated they will travel within the next six months, 41 percent said they would opt for short-haul travel (below eight hours travel time), while 33 percent said they would choose domestic travel, with the remaining 26 percent saying they would be travelling long haul or had no preference.
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