We are happy to share some important info and an analysis based on a Survey conducted in our REMOTE Community.
We are basically consolidating our members’ opinions considering what we’ve been through, what we are facing at the moment and perspectives for the near future.
This Survey was answered by Community Members, a total of 100 people from 19 countries, including Travel Designers, Lodgings and Local Experts.
It is very important to remember that, although we are not condensing the opinion of thousands of companies, we had the opportunity to listen to voices from our very specific niche, since we are only talking about small, independent, high-end and remote service providers in Latin America, and boutique Travel Designers focused on this niche, from the main markets around the world.
The full survey is available for Community Members only and we are presenting some highlights here.
WORKFORCE
42% of the Travel Designers experienced a decrease of 50% or more in the workforce size. For Lodgings this number was exactly the same, 42%. While 25% of Local Experts had this same shrinkage.
SALES
72% of Travel Designers saw a drop in sales of at least 70% from 2019 to 2020; 42% of Lodgings saw a drop of 70% or more; 75% of Local Experts saw a drop of 70% or more.
FUTURE TRIPS
48% of the Travel Designers’ clients are planning trips from July of 2021 onwards.
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
Although 78% of Travel Designers feel their clients are still hesitant about long-haul flights, 55% of the new requests are willing to travel both domestically and internationally. Since the Pandemic started, Lodgings report that an average of 60% of guests are from the same country (domestic travel).
OUTLOOK FOR 2021
In terms of outlook for 2021, 50% of Travel Designers are positive or somewhat positive, while this number is 75% for Lodgings and 56% for Local Experts.
HOTELS REOPENING
71% of the properties are currently open, but half of Lodgings were closed for 5 to 9 months previously.
Although the numbers show the pandemic had a tremendous effect on our niche, we see a certain recovery in specific markets and travellers willing to start travelling again. People are definitely eager to travel in 2021/2022 but the road to recovery in terms of sales will probably take time for most companies, either because of availability or just because the financial hit was so significant.
Of course, the closure of borders, vaccinations and other COVID-related issues will continue to impact the recovery of travel to Latin America, but the research shows that most of our members are somewhat positive about the future.
The research found that:
- 68% of would-be tourists in 2021 want to spend money supporting the local economy of their destination.
- 93% of young adults feel more inspired to travel now than before the pandemic.
- 55% of people surveyed said they wanted to travel for at least 14 days or longer.
