The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed tourism, as we respond to new travel restrictions, conditions, and anxieties by modifying our habits and preferences. Marketing Advisory Services looked at some of these changes among tourists from six European countries, at three key points during the course of the pandemic through a research exercise carried out between Q3 2020 and Q1 2021.
The following are some of the main highlights that resulted from this research project:
- During the pandemic, travel restrictions have changed the way in which holidays are planned. While the number of respondents who stated that they were planning to travel for holidays within one to two months from the time of their response decreased exponentially with time of the study, the number of respondents who stated that they intended to go on their next holiday 3 to 4 months or to 6 months increased exponentially during the three waves.
- When asked which countries respondents were considering as their next holiday destinations, the countries with the highest number of mentions overall (by all the six countries during each of the three data collection waves) were: Spain, France, Italy, and Greece.
- ‘Hotels’ as an accommodation type was clearly and consistently chosen by respondents from all six countries across all three waves. Other popular accommodation types were ‘all inclusive’, ‘Airbnb’, ‘self-catering apartments’ and ‘bed & breakfast’.
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