There is finally a slew of positive news within the travel industry. Effective vaccines and falling case numbers and deaths have given the industry hope for a rebound.
That is definitely the case for G Adventures, whose founder, Bruce Poon-Tip, spoke virtually with the media this week, addressing how the tour operator is returning to travel.
During the call, Poon-Tip noted that he "misses the innocence of travel" and "traveling without worry."
It was an appropriate time to discuss a comeback, one year after the pandemic officially shut down the industry.
"There has been more change this March than any other month," he said. "Now we can see the light. Countries are really trying to open their borders. Everyone is hopeful for summer."
Poon-Tip sees Europe's announcement for a Digital Green Pass as one of the most exciting announcements of the past week. The certificate would show proof of vaccination or information on a negative COVID-19 test.
G Adventures is working to get trips rolling in a meaningful way this summer, in particular, by July 1, 2021. However, Poon-Tip noted that things may not truly be operating until September 1.
However, G Adventures has not stood idle. The company has been operating tours since September 2020 and, according to Poon-Tip, customers have been "loving the trips and experiences."
What will truly open up travel on a larger scale, he says, is government roadmaps for reopening.
He also pointed out that vaccine passports need to be standardized.
"It is not as unusual as people think," he said but pointed out the need for a singular system. "Everyone doing their own version will overload countries trying to process them. [The process] needs to be standardized."
G Adventures' recent research shows that lockdowns have given people wanderlust and has changed the way individuals want to travel, what they want to see and where they want to go.
Fifty-nine percent of travelers said that lockdowns have made them want to travel more. However, 77 percent have yet to book and are waiting for borders to open.
Thirty-one percent of travelers will travel within three months of being vaccinated, and 46 percent within six months of being vaccinated.
"This shows a quick rebound for travel," said Poon-Tip.
Booking patterns have also changed with many consumers willing to commit to longer booking windows as far as eight months out.
Poon-Tip noted that consumer bookings before the pandemic were much closer to departures. Now, it's a long lead of six to eight months in advance.
Consumers are also interested in different things. Seventy-five percent want dollars to go to local communities. G Adventures is also seeing a surge of interest in working holidays and has found 41 percent of people want experiences outdoors for the first time.
More consumers are looking for active experiences, bucket list trips and milestone-type travel.
"There is a positive feeling right now, and people are talking about traveling again which is really what we need," said Poon-Tip.
In addition to being hopeful for the future of travel, there is also hope that the travel industry can rebuild better. Poon-Tip compared the rebirth of the travel industry to the "World's largest start-up when travel returns."
He noted that companies can reimagine their businesses.
"Now that we have scaled-down, we have the chance to scale up with again with 30 years of experience."
Going forward, Poon-Tip stressed the need for the industry to work together to get people comfortable traveling again.
"The best thing we can do in the industry is to choose where we want to compete," he said. "We shouldn't compete on safety. We are all going to follow global standards and ultimately have a unified goal to get people to travel again. Let's not compete on this to win customers."
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