Many air transport experts are talking about "revenge" tourism in a post-Covid world. While the WHO is more optimistic about the pandemic becoming an endemic, more and more countries are adopting a strategy of cohabitation with the covid virus. And the simplified entry rules do generate an appetite for travel.
This is what IATA. The International Air Transport Association states a sharp increase of 11 percentage points in international ticket sales in recent weeks. This increase in sales is the highest recorded over a two-week period since the start of the pandemic. For the week of 25 January, the number of tickets sold represented 38 % of the same period in 2019. Better still, for the week of 8 February, the number of tickets sold represented 49 % of the same period in 2019.
Open countries now account for 60% of 2019 demand
IATA explains this surge in ticket sales by the easing of border restrictions at Covid-19. The association studied trends in travel restrictions in the world's 50 largest air markets (equivalent to 92 % of global demand in 2019, measured in revenue passenger kilometres). IATA reports a total of 37 markets (i.e. approximately 60 % of 2019 demand) from now on open to vaccinated travellers under varying conditions.
If we refine this number, we see that 28 markets are open to vaccinated travellers without quarantine requirements. This represents around 50% of 2019 demand. Within its 28 countries, 18 markets (representing around 20% of 2019 demand) are open to vaccinated travellers with no quarantine or pre-departure testing requirements.
The drive to standardise transport conditions is gathering pace
" The drive to standardise transport conditions is gathering pace. Vaccinated travellers can travel much further with fewer worries than a few weeks ago." says Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA. " This gives more and more travellers the confidence to buy tickets. And that's good news! We now need to further accelerate the lifting of travel restrictions. While recent progress has been impressive, still a long way from 2019 connectivity levels. Thirteen of the top 50 travel markets still do not offer easy access to all vaccinated travellers. This includes major savings such as China, Japan, Russia, Indonesia and Italy" added IATA's Director General.
Disconnecting the entry conditions for virus propagation
IATA has published a wish list to support the recovery. The association is calling for
- The removal of all barriers to travel (including quarantine and testing) for people fully vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine.
- Enabling unvaccinated travellers with a negative antigen test result before departure to travel without quarantine.
- Abolish travel bans.
- Speeding up the easing of travel restrictions recognising that travellers present no greater risk of the virus spreading than the general population.
" Travel restrictions have had a major impact on people and economies. But they have not stopped the spread of the virus. It's time to remove them. We are learning to live and travel in a world where there will continue to be risks of Covid-19 spreading. We must therefore stop taking special measures against the travelling population. In most cases, travellers don't bring any more risk to a market than already exists.. Many governments have recognised this and removed the restrictions. Many others must now follow suit" says Willie Walsh.
