by Zaim Muhammad

Since the pandemic started almost all the industries were hit with crisis except few related to Health Sector. But the Travel Industry including Aviation & Hospitality was the first one to get hit and will be the last one to be recovered. There is ambiguity in the situation and no one knows what’s next. It has become more important to understand the future of travel

Earlier people used to think, plan and travel but not anymore. The whole travel scenario has taken the new dimensions. Below questions come in mind before planning any travel.

First check which destination is open? What’s the Vaccine status of that destination? What are the entry requirements? What would be the Quarantine conditions? Has the budget airlines reinstated the flights to that particular destination or have to take expensive option? What safety measures are carried by the hotels? How public places are sanitized on regular basis? Is the destination safe for the children? How many times, we have to change our Face masks? What would be the return conditions? How much PCR would cost? All these question marks have doubled the check list of any traveler. The usual travel is turned into the conscious travel now with increase of travel insurance with every booking.

Would these tough conditions will stop people to travel, the answer is No. Everyone is keeping Safety and flexibility in front of their mind. As per the surveys done by different media channels, the rocky road is becoming smooth gradually. New corridors opening and better testing tools and safety protocols are making the travel easy. From domestic tourism point of view, we have observed the influxes of visitors in the National Parks in different countries post pandemic. Some trends were seen with increase in the wilderness as compared to the modern urban life. Wellness tourism is becoming popular that beach goers are swapping sun with shade. It has manifested the rise in workcations by embedding themselves for longer period in a certain place.     

We must not ignore the positive side of Travel pause that the city became quieter, air was less polluted with no traffic on roads and no airplanes in the air. UNESCO World Heritages were not crowded. Overall, our planet has a breath of relief and we all learned a vital lesson 

Last but not the least, talking about United Arab Emirates which has always been heaven for the tourists from all over the world. The massive figures of the visitors at Dubai Expo 2020 are the proof that UAE is one of the safest countries in the world which has 90% ratio of Fully Vaccinated Residents.

Zaim Muhammad is a Tourism Expert & owns his Travel Agency in Dubai named as Red Berry Travel & Tours. He can be reached at zaim@redberry.ae