{"id":9910,"date":"2020-11-23T16:57:25","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T13:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.travelpayouts.com\/en\/?p=9910"},"modified":"2023-02-13T18:15:54","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T15:15:54","slug":"travel-and-travelpayouts-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/blog\/travel-and-travelpayouts-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-COVID travel at Travelpayouts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What happened to travel in 2020?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

2019 was the absolute opposite of 2020, as the travel niche was flourishing and nobody expected the entire industry to crash, which, of course, happened due to COVID-19. Alexey quotes [3:40]<\/a> the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which noticed that the first significant drop in flights happened in Asia (starting with China in January) and then spread across the rest of the world. This resulted in huge losses to the travel niche, including a revenue loss in aviation that exceeded $447.4 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to WTO, all countries closed their borders to tourists in April 2020 and travel remained largely depressed till July. In September, 50% of countries eased their restrictions on tourists and the niche slowly started to recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Even though the entire world still expects the industry to recover, it has become clear that initial forecasts were too optimistic. IATA has made certain projections, stating that things may not normalize until 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current industry trends <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The key element that now penetrates all spheres and industries is uncertainty. You can never be 100% sure that your flight will not be cancelled and, even though people want to travel, they are either too afraid or simply cannot due to the restrictions in different countries. As a result, travel companies are experiencing significantly lower conversion rates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aviation companies and hotels are now providing higher refund rates to encourage bookings. The industry pinned their hopes on pre-booked flights, but even these are being cancelled as travellers are unsure whether now is the right time to travel. No one knows if their destination country will impose a lockdown while you are still there or even whether your home country could shut down its borders at any moment. Consequently, to stay afloat, companies are introducing more flexible tariffs and cancellation policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a time when international trips are still mostly down, domestic travel is gaining popularity, which is likely to continue well into the future. In the webinar, Alexey compares [15:15]<\/a> statistics on domestic and international travel from Aviasales and Skyscanner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the situation is changing very quickly, people are no longer planning their trips in advance, which has resulted in shortened booking windows. This makes it more difficult to predict travellers\u2019 behaviour and make reliable forecasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help users stay informed, travel brands are constantly monitoring the situation and sharing updates. For example, refer your readers to Omio<\/a>, where they can simultaneously get a clear view of what is happening in different parts of the world and book a trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Affiliate marketing in 2020<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Affiliate marketers in the travel niche haven\u2019t been spared from the recent changes in the travel market and might have a hard time during the next six to twelve months. One important difference is the increase in holds, meaning that advertisers are now rewarding affiliates only upon completed actions. This model was uncommon for hotels, but has now spread across the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another unfortunate trend is that some affiliate programs simply shut down or stopped paying commissions, such as KAYAK, BlaBlaCar, and Airhelp. Since these companies weren\u2019t making any profits, there was no point in dedicating budgets to marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While cruise programs were long awaited by many Travelpayouts\u2019 affiliates, the niche suffered worse than most and it will take cruise companies an additional six to twelve months to recover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New travel products<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic has also provoked the creation of new online products, such as virtual tours, which are now one of the highest trending affiliate marketing offers. There has been a deep interest toward online excursions around the world, but people are still waiting for offline activities to start operating again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another new product on the market is COVID-19 insurance. This is a completely separate product that appeared this year and attracts a lot of customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel statistics from Travelpayouts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In this section, data from several resources has been summed up to show you the current travel trends within different sectors of the travel niche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aviation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of top trends is the growing popularity of domestic flights, especially in countries with the most \u201cdomestic potential\u201d, such as Russia and China. An obvious drawback for affiliates is earning lower commissions for domestic flights compared to internal ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hotels and day rentals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As Alexey explains [19:50]<\/a>, cancelation of early bookings is common. Since affiliate commissions are paid within two months after the customer\u2019s checkout, the situation is a bit different in this sector and the drop began earlier. However, when countries eased their restrictions, people resumed booking hotels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tours and activities <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Here, the situation was very similar to aviation. People are eager to visit places of interest when traveling. With the introduction of virtual tours, this niche is on the rise and worth investing in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Transportation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Based on Travelpayouts\u2019 data, transportation has been badly affected by the current situation compared to other niches. While it may look better in terms of domestic sales, the impact is still enormous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Transfers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Transfers are one of the most underestimated categories and actually have great potential. Nowadays, more than ever, people prefer to stay away from crowded public transportation options, which is why transfers might be the perfect option to promote to your audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Car rentals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Car rentals are another great way for travellers to avoid public transit systems. The niche is recovering rapidly and, as long as destinations remain open, car rentals are expected to be in demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Insurance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This niche was not affected that much, as people continued buying insurance policies for domestic travel. When examined on its own, the travel insurance sector is following a similar trend to aviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Features of a new travel market<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tourists are not returning quickly as people are still very conscious about the changing situation in the world. A lot is dependent on COVID-19 and the measures taken by the governments in every country. Here are some of the most common features of the travel market in a post-COVID-19 world:<\/p>\n\n\n\n