NEW research
Covid-19 Study: The Impact on Tourist Behaviours
In the Covid-19 study about tourist behaviour, 15% of global study respondents claim they may not travel in the next 12 months for fear of safety even if Covid-19 is entirely eradicated. It is the right time for DMO’s to redesign tourism offers and change strategies.
In 2019 we had a skyrocketing tourism industry with absolutely incredible projections for the future, the 10th consecutive year of sustained growth. Still, as we know, there was an unexpected turn of events because of Covid-19 pandemics. According to UNWTO, from 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals (recorded in 2019, globally), there was a drop to 381 million (-74%) (recorded in 2020, globally).
On May 28th 2020, D2 – Analytics, together with its sister company, Bloom Consulting, launched a report on Covid-19 Impact on Tourist Behaviours: What should DMO’s do next? We analysed several post-crisis scenarios to get an idea of when tourists would be comfortable travelling again and what would need to change from here on out.
Main findings from the report.
- 54% of travellers have already booked their vacations but had to cancel due to travel restrictions;
- 64% feel unsafe travelling;
- 46% may change destinations;
- 39% of travellers will choose to travel to less crowded places.
“DMO’s should work closely with governments to explain how the way they manage the crisis impacts the willingness of people to visit the place”, explains Jose Filipe Torres, CEO of Bloom Consulting and Partner at D2 – Analytics.
Nothing will be the same, but this can be an excellent opportunity for destinations to incorporate new and more efficient tourism strategies.
In this Covid tourism report, you will find some recommendations for DMO’s on how to manage the current crisis, prepare for its aftermath, and, above all, plan for any new arising crises.
About the research.
To understand the different points of view and the new tourist behaviours, we launched an international survey using 4,000 people worldwide, including the USA, Italy, Australia and China. We removed all national opinions from the sample population of the 140 countries mentioned.
Simultaneously, we analysed the global online searches from every country in the world using our D2 – Digital Demand © software. The extensive amount of data collected has provided us with a unique perspective on the recent online behaviours and trends these last few months.
As a result, a Covid study for destinations was created.
