American Express Travel Trends Report Says Exactly What We Want To Hear in These Gloomy Times

It has now been more than a year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a larger part of the world is still in the tight grip of the virus. Certain sectors like aviation, tourism, and hospitality are still reeling under the year-long slump. Even as the countries are accelerating their vaccination rate and a few other countries are welcoming vaccinated individuals for tourism, there seems to be no definite answer to the question, “When will normal travel resume?” Many industries are conducting surveys to find answers, to learn travel trends in 2021, to know what is in the minds of people and what they exactly feel about traveling again just like in the pre-Covid times. 

American Express Travel has released the report of the travel survey it conducted in seven countries – the United States, India, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Its “Global Travel Trends Report” provides insights into the evolution of consumer sentiment toward travel in the context of COVID-19, besides revealing the top travel trends in 2021. 

Audrey Hendley, President of American Express Travel, said, “Our latest global trends report shows that there is a pent-up demand for travel among consumers, with many people longing for and beginning to plan future trips.”

This Global Travel Trends Report is something that instills hope in these dispiriting times. Read on! We are always ready to serve you with our incredible deals and discounts on flights to India, so you know we have got your back when you are ready to travel again.

The survey finds that Indians are “most interested” in future travel as 84% of respondents hoped to travel at least once a week. As for the other countries, the percentage of respondents wanting to travel is – 79% UK, 74% US, 70% Mexico, 67% Canada, 45% Australia, and 45% Japan.

Here are some of the interesting findings of this survey.

• A future travel plan is the ‘thing’ to look forward to, for 87% of respondents. Interestingly, 56% are willing to book a trip even if they might have to cancel it in the future.
• 76% are creating their destination bucket list for future travel.
• 64% miss traveling so much that they are willing to give up social media for a month to prioritize a vacation.
• 78% wish to travel in 2021 to relieve the stresses from 2020.
• 61% plan to spend more than they normally would on a trip in 2021, to make up for the missed travel in the last year.

From the Global Travel Trends Report, it can be said that the following are going to rule the travel trends in 2021.

Digital Nomadism: 

When you have the freedom and flexibility of working remotely, why do you want to miss this opportunity that allows you to work while traveling? This explains the growing interest in digital nomadism, one of the defining travel trends in 2021. In fact, 54% of respondents agreed digital nomadism is more appealing now than it was before the pandemic.

Offbeat travel: 

This is the biggest travel trend in 2021 for the obvious reasons of traveling safely and not risking our health and life when venturing out. While 69% of respondents showed interest in visiting lesser-known destinations, 80% are willing to travel to destinations during the off-season to avoid crowds. 

Luxury Travel:

It seems the pandemic has changed the way people think about luxury travel, as most of the respondents favored the personalized experiences, high cleanliness standards, and privacy that Luxury Travel offers. 

The Global Travel trends report also noted that consumers are more inclined to seek out trusted travel advisors to help them navigate and plan their future travel as the travel landscape is particularly complex right now. The result that 59% of respondents want a travel agent to help plan and customize their next trip supports their statement. You can trust Indian Eagle for flight bookings as we are tied up with several airlines to provide more options for you to choose from.  

Sustainable travel:

This is the much-needed travel trend in 2021, and it is a good sign that travelers are showing more interest in ‘philantourism’ – a portmanteau of tourism and philanthropy, which is defined as ‘the act of choosing a holiday or experience to support a destination’. 59% of survey respondents backed the idea of ‘traveling with purpose’. 72% of respondents expressed their inclination towards tourism that supports the local economy, 69% towards choosing an airline/hotel that values diversity and inclusion, and 55% towards ‘carbon negative’ travel. 

Of all the surveyed respondents belonging to 7 different countries, 91% Indians voted for conscious travel as they wanted to help the recovery of small, local businesses in some way or the other.