Of all the industries affected by the international response to the Covid-19 pandemic, few have been hit so hard as the tourism industry. With all but essential domestic travel being out of the question, the prospect of boarding a plane and travelling to some faraway, exotic location now seems unthinkable.
It seems reasonable to expect our attitudes toward international travel to change when the lockdown measures are lifted. What exactly this change might look like is difficult to predict. Will we try to cram a year’s worth of tourism into just a few months? Or will we decide that we don’t quite miss travel as much as we thought we did?
Changing Bucket Lists
A ‘bucket list’ is a concept that’s enjoyed a lot of attention in recent years. It’s a list of things we’d like to do and places we’d like to see. As recently as February, many of us were going about life as if nothing significant were about to change – but now that everything has changed, we might have come to reassess just what’s important.
What’s more, the activities we book will certainly change. While many of us might have looked forward to spending a few days lounging on a beach in the company of a trashy novel, that prospect might not appeal quite so much after weeks and weeks spent lounging around.
At the same time, our experience might grant us a greater appreciation of the history and culture of the people whose land we’re visiting. We might look for deeper, more spiritual and meaningful experiences, rather than shallow ones.
On the other hand, being isolated for so long might cause many of us to want to gather together with as many people as possible in one of the world’s biggest festivals – which are sure to be especially significant (and possibly emotionally-charged) in 2021.
Environmental Concerns
Given the decline in global emissions that’s come in the wake of the travel bans, many of us will have been given pause. We might not want to resume habits that have been so detrimental to the environment. And with such a wealth of history and culture to be found right here in the UK, the case for train travel is difficult to resist. Travelling to London via train is easy from anywhere in the UK, which makes a domestic city break easy to recommend.
When the lockdown measures are relaxed, the change will probably come about gradually, with international tourism being among the last things to be restored. As such, it may be awhile yet before we’re able to board that plane – which gives us plenty of time to consider how we’d like to spend the time!
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post
