Demand for accommodation varies significantly depending on the pace of national COVID-19 vaccination rollouts, according to a new survey report from TripAdvisor, with sluggish jab rollouts in the Asia-Pacific slowing recovery prospects.
TripAdvisor’s ‘Examining the vaccine’s impact on leisure travel demand’ report was compiled based on first-person search data coupled with consumer sentiment analysis from traveller surveys in six major international markets including Australia.
In Australia, city destinations are experiencing a revival in interest, with 25% of respondents saying they are planning a holiday in a major capital over a regional or beach destination in 2021. Some of the most searched destinations on TripAdvisor included Auckland, Singapore and London, indicating travellers are preparing for international borders to reopen.
TripAdvisor CEO and Co-Founder, Stephen Kaufer, said if nations around the world ever needed proof vaccines were the key to long-term recovery in tourism, this data was it.
“Now the focus must be on governments and international organisations to ensure vaccines reach every part of the world as quickly as possible and make it as easy as possible for vaccinated tourists to travel globally once again,” he said.
The report found the recovery of the tourism industry is powering ahead in countries with advanced vaccination programs including the USA and UK, where large portions of the population have received one or more shots. Further, clear behavioural differences are being noticed in how vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers think, with the former actively planning holidays, aiming to stay longer and spend more.
More than a third of vaccinated travellers said they were planning to spend more on their next trip, while nearly half of all international accommodation searches were for stays of six days or longer.
TripAdvisor Head of Market Research, Christopher Hsi, said the data offered hope that the vaccine was positively impacting not just the public’s confidence to travel but their willingness to turn planning into bookings.
As more and more countries make progress on the rollout of the vaccine, and the positive impact that should have on the re-opening of international borders, there is every reason to expect further growth in traveller demand will come.”