After the pandemic - a better travel industry?
After two years, the international travel industry finally looks poised to begin the slow climb out of the COVID ruins. How should the industry be changed for a better post-COVID future?
It was way back in the middle of 2020 when we first started to think about the lessons that we might take away from the pandemic. Now, two devastating years later, the travel industry may finally be on the cusp of a return to business. It's likely to be a rocky road. But it's exciting for an industry that has had few good days in recent years.
Travel industry lessons from two pandemic years in Sydney Part I
Love thy Neighbourhood - Travel industry lessons
The resumption of international travel has prompted many to think about lessons the industry should take from the crisis. Over at our sister publication, the independent travel guide Rusty Compass, we've been thinking too. We've come up with a list of a few lessons we think could make our industry better, more sustainable, and a better force for the communities we operate in. The list resonates with progressive industry too - people who would like a different, better industry to emerge from the crisis.
Cycling Sydney Harbour Bridge ©Mark Bowyer
Travel on foot, by bicycle wherever you can
Billionaires may be telling us we need to to be looking to space for the next travel thrill. We beg to differ. We've discovered there's often travel gold lurking out the back gate. And two feet or a bicycle bring more joy and less global carnage than a spacecraft. We reckon our industry should be aspiring to great products that cover less ground, better. Quality over quantity. Experience over egofests.
Lake St Clair, Tasmania ©Mark Bowyer
Go slow. See more.
Lockdowns have given us a greater appreciation of simple things. The books on our bookshelves. The songs that lift our spirits. The mood shift of a spot of exercise or deep breathing. These things have implications for travel too.
We're hoping for a travel industry that better understands that less is more. That travel shouldn't be measured by cities conquered, room nights or flights. The privilege of travel can be used to better appreciate what's at our finger tips. Spend more time exploring a gallery. Stop more often to think and learn.
Streets of Glebe, Sydney ©Mark Bowyer
Love Thy Neighbourhood
Whether you're travelling or sitting at home, how well do you know the neighbourhood you're in? Give it a good look. You might be surprised by what you find. I was.
The travel industry needs to love neighbourhoods too
We've always loved the sweet spot where great travel experiences make great communities.
Blue Mountains, NSW ©Mark Bowyer
Travel more. Consume less.
I guess this whole blog can be encapsulated in those words - we should be building products so people can travel more and consume less. It's the opposite to the message being pushed by billionaires Branson, Bezos and Musk. The best things in life are free or small and local in travel. The best travel eco-systems are vibrant places of creative small businesses. Even the big guys derive the most benefit from these places.
Unsettled exhibition - Australian Museum ©Mark Bowyer
Challenge your assumptions
Travel is often considered a good way of challenging your physical limits - climb higher, walk further, run faster. A post-COVID world of travel should be a place where we also push our assumptions about the world we live in. We've always been in awe of the challenge of making sense of history and culture and that's always been a big driver for travel.
The best cultural will travel will challenge your view of the world too - history, culture, politics.
We'll be taking all these lessons with us into the post-COVID travel landscape and trying to live by them. I hope some of them resonate with you too.