to travel in Hong Kong and Asia-Pacific more broadly. And, unfortunately, the outlook for travel is grim. “I am not wholly optimistic for Asia to open its borders and arms to mass travel in 2021,” Danny concludes. Perhaps travel will start to recover in late 2021. But, Danny believes that “many health-based requirements will stick and compromises by travelers will need to be accepted for the foreseeable future.” That’s due to the differing approaches that different regions have taken for the coronavirus. “The Asia Pacific has shown largely how to keep the coronavirus at bay or in check when strict measures in the community and at borders are implemented.” However, since the region has generally done an incredible job reducing the spread, vaccinations aren’t a priority now. Instead, Danny believes it will be “incumbent on other countries to still rid itself of the virus and have some vaccination defense in order to be considered a trusted travel partner in the post-pandemic era of travel.” For now, there’s still hope for “travel bubbles” between regions that have kept the virus under control. However, Danny points to “the Hong Kong-Singapore quarantine- free travel arrangement failing to launch on the eve of its official start sums up the hard reality and the high barrier to travel governments have placed in order to protect local communities.” Bottom Line Whether it’s booking aspirational award travel, a deal to Europe or a trip to see Grandma, experts are finding that travelers are mentally ready to travel once again. However, getting control of the coronavirus is critical to travel’s recovery—whether that’s through vaccines or community spread controls, or more likely, some combination of the two. But, travelers aren’t waiting for everything to recover before starting to book. Savvy travelers are already taking advantage of unprecedented flexibility and low fares from airlines and hotels to book deals now. After all, they know that they can change or cancel these trips later if it’s not safe to travel. It’s important to keep in mind that some destinations will likely remain off-limits. Countries that either don’t have access to vaccines or have focused on eliminating local spread may continue to be closed to international travelers long after other destinations open up. So, while travel may begin to recover in summer 2021, it might be fall of 2021 or even 2022 before the travel industry recovers worldwide. n
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to report that they’ve booked the deal. “People feel good about making speculative bookings,” Spencer notes “especially for the fall.” He sees a lot of travelers booking trips for October and November 2021. But, whether or not these trips will happen is “in flux depending on how the vaccine is rolled out.” Travelers also realize some destinations will take longer to recover than others. For example, many subscribers are excited to visit Australia again, but they realize that it’s likely going to be at least 2022 before they can head down under. Asia-Pacific Travel Recovery May be Slower In early February 2020, I flew to Hong Kong to report on how the novel coronavirus was impacting the Asian financial and transportation hub. From mask requirements and temperature checks to health questionnaires, Hong Kong implemented key preventative measures early on. I may have stepped off the plane with my airline-provided surgical mask on inside out, but I knew just who to talk with about the situation: Danny Lee, the Senior Aviation Reporter for the South China Morning Post. I checked back with Danny about when he sees a recovery
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The Business Review | May 2021
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