Has the pandemic changed travel forever?

 It's now over six months since restrictions came into all our lives. Things have changed in ways that we could never have imagined at the turn of the year. None of us know what is going to happen with the pandemic, but one thing I think we'd all agree on is that it has changed travel forever. There are many people who've decided that staying home for now is the best thing to do. There are others that feel that this pandemic shouldn't put our lives on hold, and that we should still travel if it feels safe and possible to do so. 

When numbers were lower in the UK in July, I decided to head off to my little hideaway in Portugal. My own experience of travelling back then was a fabulous one - empty flights; no queueing at airports, and deserted beaches. However good that felt at the time though, it's clear that isn't sustainable for airlines and the businesses that rely on tourism. Travel was as popular as ever at the start of 2020, before grinding to a halt by March and it's going to be interesting to see if there is any sort of recovery in the coming months. One thing that's for sure, we have all realised how important family is - especially when many of us haven't been able see our relatives for months on end. On the back of that, there is an already growing trend of family travel sales increasing, with people booking trips for next year with their relatives.

Having been locked down for a large part of the year, we've all been craving fresh air in the great outdoors.  That new-found appreciation of the places around us is likely to continue, and domestic travel was the first sector to expand. Going forward, will outdoor adventures and road trips soar in popularity?

I'm sure you've all seen the ghostly shots of abandoned cruise liners off-shore, just waiting until that sector  kicks off again. When it does, the experts predict that the more popular routes will be those shorter, closer to home sailings. rather than the longer far-flung ones.

Whatever happens going forward the demand for travel is likely to take years to return to pre-pandemic levels. Just as the rest of the world is changing, it seems the world of travel is also forever altered.