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By Syona Vashisth
June 2022
It has now been two years into the pandemic, and we have all gotten used to this new reality that we live in. Many aspects of our lives have changed, from school, work, and traveling. Before everything changed, the travel industry was booming and millions of people traveled every year to many places. Airports were crowded, planes were full, and hotels and travel accommodations had a lot of popularity. When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, almost all that we thought was normal completely stopped. Many aspects of our society have changed, and one very important part was travel.
Traveling is something that many of us have gotten accustomed to. Whether it be to visit families in other places or a relaxing vacation with your loved ones, travel was a way many people escaped their daily lives and routines for something new. As the pandemic continues into a new phase, traveling has finally begun to pick up again, but the effect of Covid has changed a lot of different aspects of it.
Impact it had on people that depend on tourism
Impact it had on people that depend on tourism
The impact the pandemic has had on traveling not only affected the travelers themselves but the people who made a living on the tourism and the travel industry. By 2019, 1.5 billion people took trips out of their homes. When the pandemic happened, 100 million jobs were at risk due to the lack of tourists and travelers to those places. Tourism-dependent countries took a huge toll because many were then stuck at home to slow the spread. Tourism worldwide is not expected to recover until around 2023; the number of travelers decreased by 65% in the first half of 2020. This immense downfall created conflict among people who depended on tourism as a way of income. In a short amount of time, their jobs went from normal to practically nonexistent since no one was traveling.
Hawaii is a well-known spot for tourists since its beaches and warm weather attract many people from all over the world. Because of the pandemic, Hawaii went from having millions of visitors to basically none in an instant. This had a heavy toll on hotels and other businesses that depended on tourism and people traveling as an income. Another place that was heavily impacted was Barbados. A tourism hotspot; many workers there who are locals were hit hard and weren’t able to earn as much money as they usually do. Even though we are moving back into a world that was like before, it’s hard for many places and businesses to bounce back to what they were like before.
What the future of travel is going to look like now
What the future of travel is going to look like now
The pandemic has impacted a lot of people worldwide in the travel industry, and it is definitely going to make some changes into what traveling is going to look like. One way traveling will be different for many is how smaller communities will play a bigger role. When the pandemic hit, people were able to rethink their travel habits. Booking meaningful trips to places they truly wanted to see and explore became the priority, and so places that weren’t so well known before the pandemic have gotten and will get more recognition because people now want to explore and experience something new.
Another way travel will be different for many is that sustainability will be on the forefront. Because travel was stopped so abruptly in the beginning of the pandemic, travelers and many companies rethought their methods and tried to focus on how to make traveling more sustainable. Global warming and climate change change is a huge growing issue, and many different parts of society can slow down that issue. Travel is one of them, “Don’t be surprised if countries mandate ‘fly-free days’ and other measures to control climate change,” says Elizabeth Becker, author of Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism.
As of recently, many airlines have dropped the mask mandate. There have been debates about this, and many people are happy to finally be free of wearing masks, especially on long flights because they can be uncomfortable. However, many people are upset and now uncomfortable because people from all different parts of the world are traveling with people from other countries, so this increases the risk of catching Covid and other diseases/illnesses as well. People who are immunocompromised or at of higher risk may fear traveling now because masks are optional. People now have a choice to wear masks or not, and the important thing to do is to respect others’ decisions.
Bibliography
Bibliography
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Hilliard, Mark, and Vivienne Clarke. “Experts Warn Publication of Travel 'Green List' Will Create Confusion.” The Irish Times, The Irish Times, 20 July 2020, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/experts-warn-publication-of-travel-green-list-will-create-confusion-1.4308685.
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Sampson, Hannah, and Natalie B. Compton. “11 Ways the Pandemic Will Change Travel.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 15 June 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/06/15/11-ways-pandemic-will-change-travel/.
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