The reliance on travel agents has made a comeback following the outbreak of COVID-19 amid a want for personalisation and true-time connectivity, a survey has identified. The travel has gathered momentum on the back of an expedited vaccination drive following a complicated 2020 and a deadly second wave of the pandemic, the survey by B2B travel platform TravClan has identified.
TravClan surveyed almost 250 tiny- and mid-variety travel agents & planners and customers in an try to recognize the alterations in the travel small business ecosystem as effectively as the Indian traveller’s behavior in a post-pandemic world.
The survey identified that 83% of the agents catered to very first-time consumers, a essential indicator that an growing quantity of Indians have been turning to travel agents and trip planners. It also revealed that contrary to well-known belief that younger people today travel more, people today in the 30-50 age group will make up 75% of holidaymakers in the close to future. This is an indication that the share of couple and family travels will rise. People are also prepared to invest more for superior services and experiences.
TravClan co-founder Arun Bagaria mentioned: “The global tourism industry has endured a major existential challenge and is now confidently overcoming this on the basis of knowledge gained during the last one year.” Such is the buoyancy about post-pandemic travel demand that numerous agents who had shut shop for worry of a collapse of the worldwide travel small business are now returning to the fold. The survey also revealed that most travel agents think operations would resume more quickly than anticipated. With a number of well-known destinations such as Maldives and Thailand currently announcing reopening in phases, international travel is anticipated to resume in big markets by October.
Of the total respondents, who have been asked the respondents if they felt more people today would choose booking by way of travel agents amid the altering travel situation post-COVID-19, a whopping 82.2% people today mentioned yes. When asked about the form of travel requirement that had seen a surge post the pandemic, 51.3% of the respondents answered weekend getways, though 41.2% chose leisure. Staycations and workcations have been selected by 34.5% and 31.5% of the respondents, respectively.
The survey also highlighted the reputation of staycations and workcations as effectively as leisure and weekend trips. Bagaria mentioned: “Travel agents are evolving to service the needs of the future travelers… at a time when travel regulations are changing frequently.” He added that these agents who carried out their small business offline are now adopting new technologies and becoming travel planners, even carrying out advertising activities on social media.