Safe Travel: What’s Next?

March 2021 Charlotte Jewish News

By Roni Fishkin Director of Marketing and Events, Mann Travel

While 2020 was a year of disruptions, cancellations, and disappointments in the world of travel, 2021 is poised to be the year of change and recovery. What will the new normal look like? What can we expect when we are able to safely travel again? The questions loom large for anyone who has missed exploring our world and is anxious to hit the road. Here are a few things we predict:

Technology will plan an even larger role in our travel experiences moving forward. To keep guests safe, most hotels and resorts have implemented contact-less procedures to ensure as little face-to-face interaction during check-in, food deliveries, cleaning, and check outs.

In addition, automatic doors will begin to replace entrances that once required pushing and pulling, and elevators will increasingly use key cards to activate so buttons don’t have to be pushed by everyone.

While many of these tech improvements were on their way before the pandemic, now they are poised to become standard more quickly than anticipated.

Flexibility will become a big buzzword for travelers wanting the ability to change plans without paying a hefty price. In the past, many vacations required full payments months before the anticipated travel and often had cancellation penalties resulting in a significant financial hit.

Today, airlines have waived their change fees, and tour companies and cruise lines are offering trip protections and cancellation reassurance so travelers have the confidence to move forward with plans.

Extended stays will be one of the outcomes of this year’s lockdowns. The pent-up desire to travel and look at something besides your own four walls will result in longer vacations for many. While the first time people venture outside might be a two or three-day road trip, soon the desire to travel to more far-flung destinations will take hold. The industry anticipates longer stays also because of the opportunities to work and study remotely.

At the same time, private homes and villas will grow in popularity. The longer stays are easier in a home environment where you don’t have to eat out for every meal. In addition, the safety and security travelers will feel in a private home with just their own family is a huge draw.

The importance of trusted brands will also grow moving forward. Tried and true companies will give travelers a sense of security when they plan their travel. Studies show that there will be a 25% increase in Americans using travel professionals to book their trips and a big uptick in what is reserved what would be considered “trusted accommodations.”

Trusted brands of travel insurance will also see an increase of business as people intend to protect their travel investment. The pandemic has taught people to not “take things for granted” and there will be a focus on purchasing these kind of protections – and renewed scrutiny in what is actually covered by the different kinds of insurance.

Increasingly, these trusted brands will use virtual planning to reach travelers. Although, we all recognize the benefit of faceto-face interaction, the circumstances may not allow that for some time. Travelers will still want to engage with professionals during the planning process and there will be more opportunities to do that than ever before.

For example, Mann Travels is hosting a virtual Travel & Cruise Expo March 7th where, from the comfort of your own home, you can live chat with representatives from all the major travel suppliers, view seminars, win prizes and, of course, book your future vacation. All of this can happen with the ease of a click of the computer mouse. Visit MannTravels.com to register for the event.

Finally, Americans are booking travel far in the future….further out than usual. In order to have confidence that the world will be safe to travel in, people are looking toward 2022 and even 2023 to plan vacations. Travel companies are responding by opening up the ability to book this far in advance and promoting itineraries and special deals for the future.

The reduced occupancy we will probably see in hotels, and so forth, will undoubtedly make it a bit harder to book your first choice if you don’t plan early. The trend to book far into the future will take hold as travelers understand the best deals and the best options will not happen last minute.

Roni Fishkin is the director of marketing and events at Mann Travels, a full-service travel agency serving the Carolinas since 1979. With 9 area offices, Mann Travels is the local expert for all travel and vacation planning.