Study: Coronavirus Affecting Leisure Travel More

Leisure travel appears to be among the hardest-hit segments with business travel the least affected by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest report by Swiss research agency m1nd-set.

Global uncertainty due to the crisis reveals that Covid-19 will have a greater impact on leisure travel as 45 percent of Europeans say their plans for leisure travel will be affected compared to the global average of 30 percent: broken down – 21 percent among Asia Pacific travelers and 25 percent in the Americas.

According to m1nd-set, although 72 percent of Europeans say Covid-19 has impacted their intended travel frequency, it is still lower than the global average at 81 percent, and the lowest among all other world regions. Less than one-fifth said they will limit travel for both business and leisure due to the pandemic.

Business travel, meanwhile, will be the least affected for Europeans with less than one in 10 travelers planning to limit their work-related trips.

The report, which was conducted among European passengers who have traveled in the past 12 months, also examined traveler consumer habits.

According to the study, spend levels are likely to be impacted among European travelers on future international flights.

European travelers who will shop or spend less in duty free shops are most likely to turn to physical stores at home, online or to downtown duty free shops.

According to the same findings, a significant percentage say they will not change their behaviour across certain key categories with 70 percent still interested in buying spirits – significantly higher than the global average of 56 percent.

In terms of gifts and souvenirs, 74 percent of Europeans say they will not change their behaviour, compared to 53 percent of all travelers globally.

According to the company’s CEO and owner Peter Mohn, retailers will have to rethink their digital marketing and e-commerce activities

“The current trends and shift to online spending are a major call to action for the travel retail sector to upgrade its online strategy,” he said.

“This is essential for both the e-commerce offer and digital marketing activities to prospective customers — passengers and consumers while they are in the process of booking or searching for travel,” he added.