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After a long period of staying home due to Covid-19-related travel restrictions, the public is eager to pack their bags for travel. However, with inflation soaring, many travelers are looking for ways to reduce the cost of their trips, from opting for shorter journeys to shunning more upscale hotels.
Tourists are looking for ways to save money.
Axel Hefer, CEO of the travel search platform Trivago, told CNN: "Your actual salary will have to cut back on spending in quite a few markets. Therefore, you need to save money in certain areas to make the trip worthwhile."
Mr. Hefer stated that two- and three-star hotels are becoming increasingly popular, while four- and five-star hotels are becoming less sought after.
Travelers are also looking for less expensive destinations. Mr. Hefer cited the example of users of the Trivago platform showing increasing interest in Morocco and Portugal. Because Trivago allows users to compare hotel prices worldwide, the platform also gathers data to understand customer trends.
People are still traveling, but they'll be looking for ways to make their trips more affordable. Photo: CNN.
In addition, there are increasingly more rankings of affordable destinations to assist customers in planning their trips. Australian and American newspapers are ranking many of the best value destinations for their country travelers.
Meanwhile, domestic tourism is still recovering strongly in countries like the United Kingdom, which has seen significant volatility in the pound sterling in recent months. Currency fluctuations can also make planning future overseas trips more difficult.
Mr. Hefer said: "People still want to travel and experience new things, but they are also struggling to cope with the fact that everything is getting more expensive."
The tourism industry is anticipating a strong recovery.
Meanwhile, the tourism industry is anticipating a strong year of growth as demand for travel from the public is high and prices are also rising.
The International Air Transport Association has predicted that global airlines will return to profitability in 2023, for the first time in four years, even as overall economic growth continues to slow.
Currently, the number of flight bookings remains lower than pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels. From the beginning of the year to February 2nd, global flight bookings were still 22% lower than the same period in 2019, according to data from ForwardKeys, a travel analytics company.
But this number is projected to change soon thanks to the removal of strict Covid-19 testing and quarantine requirements in China – a move that has opened the door to the world's largest group of global tourists.
The World Tourism Organization suggests that international tourist numbers could reach 80% to 95% of pre-pandemic levels this year, "depending on the extent of the economic downturn, the ongoing tourism recovery in Asia and the Pacific, and the situation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict."
Mr. Hefer also predicted that the number of people traveling from China to top cities in Asia, Europe, and North America would surge this summer. This strong increase in demand could also drive up hotel and flight prices. Airfares have already risen sharply year after year due to labor shortages and delays in the delivery of commercial aircraft.
Tour operator TUI said on Tuesday (February 14) that its bookings over the past four weeks have been higher than pre-Covid-19 levels, and average prices are also higher. The company noted that it welcomed 3.3 million customers in the first quarter, up from 2.3 million a year earlier. TUI currently has 8.7 million advance bookings for the winter and summer seasons this year.
Even low-cost travel providers are benefiting from the current trend. Ryanair, the budget airline gaining market share from rivals, also hopes to raise prices for flights during the Easter and summer holidays this year due to strong demand from American and Asian travelers and less competition from other airlines in the same segment.
Ryanair reported record profits in the last three months of 2022 after raising ticket prices by 14% (compared to pre-pandemic levels) during that period.
