Study: Almost 20% of Travelers Think it's OK to Globetrot Again

For a face time-heavy industry like consulting, the sudden shutdown of global travel has been an obstacle firms have had to navigate to ensure service continuity and worker safety. Leisure travelers are feeling the sting as well, largely deferring holiday or vacation plans that involve an airplane. Attitudes are slowly changing, however, and a new study by Oliver Wyman has revealed that a not-insignificant number of consumers are tired of putting travel plans on hold.

The survey, Anticipating the Travel Recovery, interviewed more than 4,600 participants across nine countries, all of whom had flown at least once in 2019. It's the second edition of the survey which was first conducted in April/May.

Some key findings of the survey include:

• Leisure Travel: 63 percent of survey respondents said they expect to travel the same amount or even more post-pandemic. The most frequently given reason globally is to visit friends and family. In the US, 55 percent of respondents said they were more likely to visit friends and family compared to pre-COVID, which indicates a pent-up travel demand for the holidays.
• Business travel: On the other hand, 43 percent of all respondents who travel for business say they plan to travel less post-pandemic, a 16 percent decrease from May. Many professionals have grown accustomed to doing much of their work remotely, but only 53 percent of respondents said teleconferencing is a good way of developing new relationships. That figure drops to 47 percent for business travelers under age 30. Half of business travelers also said they expect no change in trip duration, while 30 percent said they expect to take shorter trips when it's possible.

As for mid-pandemic travel, 31 percent of those surveyed said they have traveled by air and 24 percent by train since March. Of those trips, 60 percent were for leisure. Half of the travelers surveyed said they were satisfied with the overall process, including check-in, security, boarding, and use of PPE like masks once on board. US and China travelers reported especially high satisfaction numbers.