The founder of Futurist.com, an international consultancy focused on long-range future trends, Glen Hiemstra takes a glimpse at the ways the travel industry may take as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. Even though no one knows exactly how and when the tourism sector will be back to normal, one thing is for sure: tourism is the key for the economic revival.
Glen Hiemstra said that domestic travel will likely be easier to accomplish, especially if borders remain tight and travel bans are still in place. This goes in concordance with one of the New 7 Wonders initiative to promote the roll out of the Official National 7 Wonders campaign, such as the case of Argentina and its National 7 Natural Wonders.
The growth of the domestic travel can be explained, according to Hiemstra, because “There might be an explosion of desire to go to see people like friends and relatives we’ve been unable to visit while social distancing or on lockdown”.
On the other hand, Hiemstra expect the luxury travel as well as the adventure travel to grow, since people will look to be protected, and also in touch with nature. This might mean a good opportunity for people to discover the New 7 Wonders of Nature, where they can find the perfect mix between nature and luxury.
Although it isn’t certain what the future of travel will be like, it is clear that governments, international organizations, tourism agencies and tourists themselves will do their best to improve the situation as soon as possible.