Current Travel Trends
By: Tatum Nickell
Around the world, COVID-19 has made a major impact. This pandemic has affected how we interact, shop, and travel. So many things are changing that it can be hard to keep up.
Traveling has always been something that many Americans not only do for their enjoyment, but also for their jobs. 217 countries have imposed some kind of travel restriction. Such travel curves have turned the travel and tourism into one of the largest casualties of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization.
From flight suspensions to border closures, the massive shutdown has cost countries billions of tourism dollars, airlines are running out of money and millions of people have lost their jobs.
Still, passenger revenue for airlines was estimated to plunge by $314 billion in 2020 — or a 55% drop from 2019 levels, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Luckily, at the start of 2021, the COVID vaccine was introduced. This vaccine has allowed us to start traveling and moving at a quicker pace once again. Needless to say, every airline has had an unprecedented challenge. But overcoming these challenges makes each of them stronger.
Thankfully, with vaccines rolling out at a fast pace. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Vaccines are more widely accessible in the U.S. The federal government continues to work toward making vaccines widely available for everyone at no cost.”
To see how our airlines are doing currently, click on the video below.
American and other airlines are doing their part to keep everyone safe throughout this pandemic. American Airlines’ website shows that they have different testing partners so that you can feel safe while flying.
Although there are mask mandates in place and no food or drink services offered on long flights, all of the prices for tickets seem to have dropped. While a lot of people already use Expedia or other money saving websites, COVID has been our own personal money saver. Prices have decreased, but with the rise of the new vaccine they are slowly going back up. The only plane tickets that have not slowly increased are those headed out of the country. Many countries are still restricting travel access due to high COVID numbers, which means tickets there are not as valuable. So if you are daring enough, grab your tickets to your favorite travel destinations now! Oh, and don’t forget to wear a mask!
