Every industry has been affected by COVID-19 in one way or another, but few have been hit as hard as travel and tourism. Travel and tourism was brought to a screeching halt at the start of the pandemic and has since been a logistical nightmare with businesses having to adjust to an unpredictable and fast-changing situation. Read on to discover 3 of the key challenges faced by travel and tourism since the pandemic.

 

Consumer Trust

One of the biggest challenges that is causing long term damage to the travel and tourism sector is consumer trust. Businesses are desperate to start their recovery, but many people are still anxious and hesitant particularly when it comes to travel.

The situation is much different to a year ago, but there is still a threat and the pandemic has not yet ended. Businesses are having to find ways to show consumers that travel and tourism is safe, which is challenging in a time where numbers are still high and the pandemic is not yet over.

 

Health & Safety

Leading on from this, businesses in travel and tourism are having to make big changes to the way that they operate to make their business COVID-secure to protect customers, staff and public health as a whole. Businesses are having to introduce PPE, perspex screens, hand washing stations, health and safety signs and other measures to show that they are taking COVID seriously and to prevent transmission. Additionally, staff need to be trained on how they can carry out their role safely and protect public health at all times.

 

Financial & Legal Challenges

Many businesses in the travel and tourism sector have found themselves tangled in financial and legal challenges. This is partly due to the fast-changing situation and rule changes, which have created discrepancies with customers that have had to change their plans. Additionally, many tourism companies are re-structuring their groups and personal both locally and internationally. These are major challenges for businesses that need to be handled carefully, which is why it is important to work with market crisis specialists that can help corporations and SMEs with these challenges.

 

These are 3 of the biggest challenges that the travel and tourism industry is facing right now. Few industries have been hit as hard as travel and tourism and many businesses have had to fold in this time. Those that have managed to survive find themselves faced with an uphill battle, but the situation is looking brighter moving forwards and hopefully the situation will improve in 2022. While travel and tourism has been hit hard, there are reasons to be optimistic due to pent up demand as well as the rise in trends like staycations.