What does the future of travel look like?

Last month, we sent a survey to our customers and friends in the travel community to get their thoughts on what the future of travel looks like for them. How has the coronavirus affected their plans to explore the world this year? Where do they dream of visiting, when long-haul travel is deemed safe again? What’s the most important thing we can do to make them feel safer and more confident to travel with us, once it is deemed safe to travel again?

The results are in and we’re over the moon with the huge response we’ve seen. So, first things first. We want to say a big thank you to everyone who took the time to share their opinions with us. As a small, independent travel company, we rely on the feedback of our amazing community of travellers, so this means a lot.

Haven’t had the chance to complete our survey? It’s not too late! You can still have your say here.

What did the survey tell us?

When it comes to taking your next long-haul trip, many of you are understandably waiting for more guidance and advice from the government. However, like us, almost half of you (48%) are keen and hopeful to travel long-haul between the end of this year and Spring 2021 (as long as it is deemed safe to do so, of course).
Many of you shared how your travel habits might change as it becomes safer to travel long-haul. Some of these changes include: only travelling with a trusted tour operator, only visiting countries that are deemed safe, choosing airlines with rigorous health and safety policies, and opting for less public transport and more private transfers while you’re on holiday.
When it is safe to travel long-haul again, these are some of the top destinations you’d like to visit: Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Costa Rica and Sri Lanka.
Understandably, some of the biggest concerns you have about travelling long-haul again are: not getting adequate travel insurance and having to quarantine while you’re away.
And finally, the most important thing we – as a company – can do to make you feel safer and more confident to travel with us is: providing a clear policy on refunds and re-booking, and a clear policy on repatriation.

We’ve been following government advice to the letter and are working hard behind the scenes with our local partners in each destination, to develop a clear policy for your peace of mind. We’ll be ensuring strict measures are in place for when you’re ready to travel again. We’re really pleased to see that results of this survey reinforce some of the decisions and changes that we’re already making to the way our holidays operate.

We promise to keep you in the loop as guidance changes and restrictions are lifted. And we’ll continue to use your feedback to ensure that our customers feel confident, supported and excited to travel again, when it’s safe.

For our team here at Rickshaw, it’s been so encouraging to gradually see more bookings and interest from our customers who are planning holidays for later this year and in 2021. We know there’s still a way to go yet.

But in the meantime, we won’t stop dreaming about our favourite places around the world. And we’ll be sharing plenty of stories and top-picks from our team to help inspire your next holiday.

Covid-19 has affected the world more than we could have ever expected. The outbreak has had an overwhelming impact on the travel industry, closing borders, and halting cross-nation travel completely. However, the are now glimmers of hope as we begin to see borders open once again, in preparation for welcoming travellers.