The Shift towards Purposeful Travel
After two years of leading virtual lives, the opening up of international travel has brought much-needed relief to all. And with it, an opportunity to reconnect — with people, business partners, places, and cultures. The pandemic called for many sacrifices. It also made us assess what was important and reflect on the purpose of travel.
Ever since the easing of travel restrictions, there are positive trends in international travel and hospitality in both, the leisure and business categories. As per estimates by EaseMyTrip[1], the online travel market in India is expected to double and reach US$31 billion by FY25, growing at a 14% CAGR from FY20 levels.
The manner in which people are choosing to travel is also changing. Here are four key emerging trends in international travel that point towards the development of more thoughtful and digitally enabled travelling.
1. Sustainability
Travelers are now more conscious of the ecological footprint that their travel leaves behind. Called Green Mapping, travelers are more selective about destinations, modes of travel, and brands to make more sustainable choices. The music band Coldplay collaborated with SAP to create the Music Of The Spheres World Tour app to provide fans with insights into the planetary impact of their travel to and from their concerts, thus guiding them in making more sustainable choices.
2. Safety
There is now an increased focus on safety, wellness, and protection from health risks, in large part due to the pandemic and thus, travel checklists have gotten longer. They now include mandatory pre-travel tests, health declarations, adherence to the guidelines and safety protocols of the respective destinations. The increased uptake of travel policies is an indication that travelers are now more safety-conscious and are choosing to take insurance cover.
3. Blended travel
In the new-new normal, remote working is transitioning to hybrid working. Digital touch is giving way to High-touch.
Flexible working policies are making it possible to now blend a business trip with a vacation. Called Workation or Bleisure, the trend to switch to ‘some work, some play’ mode is here. All what is needed are destinations that provide seamless connectivity and smart workplaces while travelers activate international roaming packages on their smartphones.
Deloitte in its report on business travel trends 2022[2] outlines the critical reasons for travel. Travel in the Thrive segment — for sales meetings, business acquisitions, relationship building, and industry conferences — is coming back to normal and is expected to increase going forward. Such travel is high in importance to business success and dependent on face-to-face interactions.
Vi Business Insights, for the period April — June 2022, shows that UAE, US, UK, Singapore, and Germany rank as the top destinations for bleisure travel with average number of travel days ranging from 7 to 14 days, varying by destination.
4. Digital Travel Experiences
Safety is also a driver for an increase in the adoption of ‘travel tech’ and consumers preferring more digital experiences. Travelers now prefer most things done via mobile apps, with smartphones at the center of travel experiences. The data shows that India had 220 million travel app downloads, making up 15% share of global downloads between January and May 2022. Booking, digital key-based check-in, and app controlled technology experiences inside hotel rooms are growing examples of travel tech. The intersection of technology and behaviours is creating a virtuous loop!
Roaming the Smart Way
Smartphones are the gateway to safe, sustainable, and convenient travel experiences. It is essential for travelers to make the right choice on an international roaming pack to ensure a worry-free and seamless travel experience.
In our social polls on “must-haves in roaming packs when traveling abroad”, the need for “unlimited voice & data” and “a single mobile connection for many countries” tops the charts.
(Poll: May 2022, 210 votes on Vi Business Social LinkedIn & Twitter)
With easy digital access at the center of the roaming experience, individual and corporate customers can activate the roaming pack via the Vi App or Vi Business-Mobility Portal, respectively. This video illustrates how it is done. With its unmatched coverage of over 80 countries, round-the-clock customer support, and attractive pack rates, Vi International Roaming is the best that is out there. Follow the easy checklist. It is time to kick back and enjoy a worry-free experience!
Purposeful travel
If a pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we must be more conscious of our choices, and prioritize our physical and mental well-being. Travel keeps us connected and travel appetite is increasing. Consumers will increasingly prefer purposeful travel going forward.
#RoamLikeHome #WorryFree #InternetofBehaviours #PurposefulTravel
[1] As travel and tourism bounce back, investors of this travel firm mint huge profits | Business Insider India
[2] Business travel trends 2022 | Deloitte Insights
Other sources:
[3] Travel and hospitality trends to look out for in 2022 | SME Futures
[4] What next for travel and tourism? Here’s what the experts say | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
[5] India holds largest share of travel app downloads worldwide — Times of India (indiatimes.com)