The coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly altered the way people travel today – including how they search, book and experience their holiday accommodation. Global travel company Skyscanner surveyed more than 2,300 of its travellers worldwide* to find out how planning for a stay will evolve in a world post-COVID19.
When it comes to booking a property in the future, 55% of Skyscanner users score sanitation and hygiene practices as ‘extremely important’ compared to price (48%) and location (45%). Reward and loyalty programmes ranked lowest (11%), after brand reputation (21%) and star rating (20%).
This shift in traveller preference can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic with travellers saying that hygiene and sanitation practices (73%) and flexible cancellation policies (61%) have become ‘more important than before’.
As travellers increasingly seek high standards of accommodation hygiene, Skyscanner has recently integrated a cleanliness score on most accommodation properties offered on its platform* to ensure that travellers have transparent and straightforward access to the right information.
Ulf Waschbusch, Director of Product – Hotels for Skyscanner commented on the new feature, “The cleanliness rating provides a clear indication of the accommodation’s hygiene standards, allowing travellers to make more informed accommodation choices.”
“It is still early days for the industry’s recovery, but travellers have already determined that hygiene and flexibility are the new necessities in the face of COVID-19. Moving forward, it is imperative that travel providers not only implement measures to instil consumer confidence, but also find new ways to inform the holiday booking experience.”
Skyscanner data also reveals that the hotel experience as we know it today will be reshaped. Nearly half (46%) of the surveyed travellers say they will avoid shared amenities and common areas such as fitness facilities. 40% of them would also prefer to dine outdoors, if given the option, whilst nearly one in five (19%) say they will look out for in-room experiences offered by the property such as private spa treatments and indoor workout videos.
There are also differences in preference amongst Australia travellers in different age segments – travellers over 35 years of age are more likely (52%) than those under 35 (40%) to avoid shared amenities and facilities (52%) in vacation properties post-COVID whilst those under 35 (31%) are more likely to look out for in-room offerings like fitness videos, cocktail making kits compared to travellers over 35 (18%).
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