Travel changed after 9/11; Here’s how it will look after the Covid-19 pandemic finally recedes

The coronavirus has devastated economies around the world and disrupted life in ways that were unimaginable just a few months ago. The world will never be the same. But at some point, industries will start coming back online and people will start going out again. We asked travel industry experts for their thoughts on what will restore confidence for people to begin traveling once the Covid-19 pandemic finally recedes. In the latest installment of our series ”The Next Normal,” we look at where and how we’ll actually travel once we’re willing to hit the road again. *** A road trip to a national park or other attraction in a neighboring state. A week-long stay at a sanitized vacation rental property nearby. How does that sound? Your next outing might be booked through a travel advisor and insured, too. That’s what a typical family vacation might look like in the U.S. once travel and tourism starts to pick up again post-pandemic, say industry experts. Just when that might happen is up in the air, yet it could be as soon as early fall or as late as next spring or beyond. The hypothetical trip incorporates several trends coming to the travel business going forward. These include traveler preferences for domestic destinations reachable by car and stays at private rental properties instead of crowded hotels and resorts. What seems sure is that any rebound in travel and tourism, brought to a screeching halt by the coronavirus pandemic, will start slowly and stay closer to home. A recent study from Longwoods International found that 82% of travelers polled had changed their travel plans for the next six months. More from Personal Finance: Cooking more under quarantine? How to trim your grocery bills Here are the world’s best attractions and worst tourist traps How Americans plan to spend their stimulus checks VIDEO05:51 Couple quarantined on cruise ship for their honeymoon “Tourism recovery typically begins locally,” said Elizabeth Monahan, spokesperson for Tripadvisor.com. “Travelers tend to first venture out closer to home, and visit their local eateries, stay local for a weekend getaway or travel domestically before a robust demand for international travel returns.” Omer Rabin, managing director, Americas, for Guesty, agreed. Guesty is an Israeli-founded property management software that enables users with properties across Airbnb, Booking.com and other travel sites to automate and streamline operations. “There will be a lot of demand for domestic travel,” he said. “I think that’s clear to everybody in the industry right now. “We see a much better recovery and occupancy for drive-to destinations,” he added. “People say ‘we don’t know what’s going to happen with flights, but we do know that we’re going to be able to get in the car and drive for three hours and have our own place and stay there for two weeks.’” In fact, the Longwoods survey found that of those that had changed their travel plans for this year, nearly a quarter, or 22%, had switched to driving from flying . Aviation industry group Airlines for America says U.S. airlines have idled 3,000 aircraft, or half the nation’s fleet, due to the downturn, while the number of passengers passing through TSA checkpoints at airports is down 93% over last year. “Our clients are a little hesitant to get on an airplane right now,” said Jessica Griscavage, director of marketing at McCabe World Travel in McLean, Virginia. “We’re already preparing for the drive market for the remainder of the year, and probably into 2021.” For its part, online travel insurance comparison site InsureMyTrip is finding that the continental U.S. is indeed the top draw for future client travel but it’s also tracking some interest in domestic destinations like Hawaii, as well as the Bahamas and Caribbean destinations like Jamaica. “When people get more comfortable, they’ll continue to go farther and farther away from home, starting with domestic and then moving to international, long-term,” said Cheryl Golden, director of e-commerce at the Warwick, Rhode Island-based firm. (To wit, Sandals Resorts reportedly will open most of its Sandals and Beaches properties across the Caribbean June 4, and those in the Bahamas July 1.) There is a small degree of interest in flying from die-hard bargain seekers. “We’ve heard from a number of travelers that the low airfares available along many routes are tempting,” said Tripadvisor’s Monahan, although she cautions those willing to book flights that “airlines continue to adjust their cancellation and change policies for travelers across the globe in response to Covid-19.” Until the virus is under control and efficient systems are in place to restore confidence in travel, it’s simply too soon to tell when people can expect to start booking again. Erika Richter SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF TRAVEL ADVISORS “Every day and every week, it just seems like things are changing and it’s really dynamic,” said Golden. “It’s hard for us to say right now when we think people will be ready to travel — but travel will come back.” Erika Richter, senior director of communications at the American Society of Travel Advisors, said a new normal is probably necessary before bookings will pick up again. “We’re still in that wait-and-see mode, because until the virus is under control and efficient systems are in place to restore confidence in travel, it’s simply too soon to tell when people can expect to start booking again.” And when they do, things will be different, thinks Anne Scully, a certified travel counselor and president of McCabe World Travel. “Travel’s going to come back [but] we’d need a crystal ball to say when,” she said. “It will be changed, I think, at least for the next 12 months.” In the meantime, Scully’s colleague Griscavage said she seeing a “standstill” in the agency’s bookings through the holiday season — meaning little in new business but not many cancellations, either. “Those [trips] are still bought, they are not cancelled yet, though it’s just too soon to tell,” she said. “I’m personally not seeing a surge in [holiday] travel bookings just yet though I think that can change very quickly as states are starting to open up.” There’s been good news at Guesty, however, said Rabin. In the last two weeks of April, more reservations than cancellations came in.