Skyscanner sees growing optimism among travellers in latest sentiment tracker

Skyscanner sees growing optimism among travellers in latest sentiment tracker

Domestic travel, international corridors and relaxed quarantine rules are driving demand

Latest consumer trends data from Skyscanner has revealed a growing sense of optimism over the green light to restart travel.

The metasearch site’s latest Pulse Survey to the end of March found twice as many travellers believe the global situation is improving compared to those who think it is getting worse (49% vs 20%)

The top five most searched for countries worldwide in March were the US, Spain, Russia, Turkey, and the UK.

Skyscanner said reduced quarantine times are leading to surges in searches to popular destinations.

Thailand, which announced its quarantine time would be reduced to 10 days for vaccinated tourists, saw searches in March increase by 40.8% compared on February.

Meanwhile, domestic travel continues to drive recovery in some countries with notable US week-on-week increase in searches including:

  • Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale up 316%
  • Boston Logan to San Diego up170%, and
  • Los Angeles to Maui Kahulu up 117%

In South Korea the week-on-week increase in bookings between Daegu and Jeju was 44%.

The establishment of travel corridors are driving a surge in bookings with Australia New Zealand seeing a 1,570% increase in bookings the day after it was announced.

The Israel Cyprus corridor, announced on April 4 saw a 1,704% increase in bookings compared to the day before.

And Skyscanner says it is monitoring an uptick in bookings between London and Tel Aviv following reports that Israel could be one of the first green list countries.

Hugh Aitken, vice president flights at Skyscanner, said: “With many travellers awaiting the green light for international travel to resume from their respective governments, Skyscanner data shows that there is a growing sense of optimism around the world.

“Where measures have been announced providing clarity on dates and restrictions, we see direct correlations with surges in demand.

“Domestic travel and international travel corridors are showing early signs of promise. Whilst there is some way still to go, it’s clear that testing and vaccines are key enablers in unlocking travel.

“However, the industry’s recovery is dependent on how straightforward and standardised the processes on both ends of the journey are for travellers, in addition to clear and timely guidance on re-opening.”