Along with the changing holiday understanding, the trends of the coming period have also changed. The winners of the pandemic will be small hotels in nature, nature tourism agencies, little-known villages, small hotels in the bays and Airbnb homes.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the travel industry after a surge in cases over the winter led to new quarantines and restrictions, and the vaccine launch faced hurdles globally.

Airbnb was the most affected by this situation globally. They were among the companies hardest hit by the pandemic, and the company nearly shelved its IPO plans with travel shut down nearly a year ago.

Overall, room bookings fell by 72% until April. Airbnb has strategically managed the situation, introducing a comprehensive refund policy and paying more than $1 billion in cancellation fees.

Airbnb, which pioneered the home-sharing vacation model, outperformed its competitors as travelers took advantage of opportunities to work from home, travel to nearby mountain villages or beach towns, and often travel for longer-than-normal stays. Airbnb showed business stability in the fall, and the company closed 2020 with a record-breaking IPO. Since then, its share value has risen 165%, valuing the company at more than $100 billion; which is higher than Expedia Group Inc. or Booking Holdings Inc.

Based on this example, it is possible to say that while the Pandemic actually changes the ‘holiday’ style of domestic and foreign holidaymakers, it also fixes habits that will never come back to our lives. Tour operators are now turning to individual and personalized tours. While open buffet restaurant, all-inclusive system, pools were preferred before, now the rising trend is boutique hotels, camping areas, caravan tourism and forest houses... Facilities and businesses create activities for vacationers to spend more time in outdoor areas instead of indoors, so that they can make a safer and more hygienic holiday. Of course, with the pandemic, holiday plans have also changed. Unfortunately, vacationers directed their early reservations from the winter season to short-term reservations due to the changing pandemic conditions. Hotels and resorts seem to be more hygienic and reliable, and personal campsites and small-capacity accommodation are coming to the fore. In this period, it is obvious that tourism agencies, like many other sectors, had troubled times. It is not known if it will go back to the old days, but travel agencies, tour operators and hotels are running campaigns to grab a bigger share of domestic and foreign tourists.

Hürriyet Newspaper Tourism Editor Burak Coşan says that the demand for isolated holidays has increased due to the coronavirus that has been going on for about 1.5 years, and especially at the beginning of last summer, interest in boutique hotels, RVs, camping areas, private tours, in short, in holiday destinations that are thought to have less spot of contact. “However, the increase in interest in such holiday options is limited due to various reasons such as the insufficient camping areas in the country, the inadequate services provided in existing areas, and the high taxes collected from RVs. On the other hand, with the ‘safe tourism certificate’ commissioned against the virus and the increase in the holiday desire of people who have stayed at home for a long time, a return to the old habits has begun to be experienced, especially in this summer period. Demand for hotels with larger spaces has risen. Less contact in hotels with large areas and stricter implementation of the measures taken attracted the attention of consumers.”

Akfen GYO General Manager Sertaç Karaağaoğlu, who shared his views on the subject, points out that COVID-19 has affected all areas of our lives in a way that has never been seen before, and that the tourism sector is one of the sectors most negatively affected by the pandemic, and shares the following information: “While travel activities have almost completely stopped, hotels have experienced revenue drops in this period, which is many times higher than the crises they have experienced before. Many hotels have been forced to close their doors and there have been significant reductions in the workforce. While two-thirds of the world’s aircraft fleet was parked during the pandemic period, 18 airlines filed for bankruptcy within a few months. The pandemic period, in which every branch of tourism hit the bottom, was the milestone of the sector.”

Karaağaoğlu also mentioned that today there is a slight movement due to vaccination studies and the gradual opening of air transportation, “Although full-scale sectoral recovery is expected to take many years, the increase in the number of people who think to travel compared to last year also reveals people’s longing for travel. We hope that the future in tourism will take place much faster and positively.”

MASS WHO DO NOT WANT TO TAKE A HOLIDAY

Another result that showing that holiday habits have changed is the “Holiday Habits Research in the Shadow of Coronavirus” conducted by TatildeKirala.com with more than 600 participants from 74 cities. 62% of the participants seem to have changed their holiday plans with the pandemic. Only 14% of participants said they plan a vacation, while 43% hesitate to plan a vacation due to contamination and hygiene concerns. These concerns also exclude hotels, where common areas of use are concentrated, from holiday plans. Only 15% of the participants say that they will prefer hotels, while 45% say that they will stay in detached houses and rental villas. One of every two people who will go on holiday will provide transportation by private vehicle. According to research results, 30% of participants decided not to go on vacation this year, except for those who said they would go to their summer residence or village due to the COVID-19 period. According to the research, contamination and hygiene concerns are the first among the main reasons for the 30% of people who do not go on vacation. While 43% of the participants stated that they canceled their holiday plans for this reason, 27% do not want to stay anywhere other than a village or a summer residence. Economic reasons also play a decisive role in the decision not to go on vacation. While 15% of the participants do not make any plans due to financial inadequacies, another 15% say that they do not already go on vacation under normal conditions.

“The Research of Holiday Habits in the Shadow of the Coronavirus” also answers the question that people are in dilemma; “pool or sea?” While 40% of the participants say that they will prefer the sea, the rate of those who will prefer the pool remains at 20%. After the difficult pandemic period, those who want to finally meet the sea head to the Aegean Region with 43 percent. The Aegean is followed by the Mediterranean with 24%, the Marmara with 11%, the Black Sea with 8% and Central Anatolia and Southeast Anatolia with 2%.

BACK TO THE OLD HOLIDAY ROUTINE

Pointing out that there will be changes in the tourism sector in 2021 and beyond, Sertaç Karaağaoğlu said: “It is a fact that the pandemic has created negativities in the tourism and travel sector. But Turkey, for many years, stands out as one of the world’s leading points of choice for sea-sand-sun holidays. We consider that tourists will gradually return to their “old holiday routines,” especially during the summer holidays.”

Pointing out that Turkey, which hosts more than 50 million tourists every year, has an important advantage, Karaağaoğlu said that the Turkish tourism industry will quickly adapt to all changes (especially healt measures) such as; use of smart hardware devices or robotics to reduce contact in check-in/out services, digital concierge services, raising mobile applications to more technological levels, making certificate programs compulsory to provide hygiene and sanitation information to personnel, and reducing the number of tour groups to 6-7 people, which is much lower than groups of 20-30 people.

The pace of recovery of the tourism and accommodation sector

According to the Deloitte COVID-19 Tourism and Hospitality Sensitivity Survey, 65% of the population in Europe and 41% in Turkey think that it will take longer than 12 months for the tourism and travel industry to return to its normal course after the pandemic is brought under control.

Sertaç Karaağaoğlu (General Manager of Akfen GYO)

‘Micro holiday concept is developing’

“We think that Turkey’s rich tourism opportunities will change shape according to the demand with the pandemic. For example, facilities that host less people and are sensitive to the environment will be preferred more and there will be an increase in the health tourism related to the increase in interest in health. In addition, considering that travel restrictions still apply in the world, less preferred destinations within the local country will be added to the travel plans and ancient cities, cultural heritages and natural beauties will be explored. With the development of the concept of Micro Vacation, destinations with short flights and routes that can be reached by car will come to the fore instead of long-distance travels in the first place. Instead of a long trip, closer places will be preferred for a few days. While caravan vacation again appears as a favorite holiday style, luxury camping places will be created in nature. We also expect the holiday on the boat trend to become more widespread.”

Burak Coşan  (Tourism Editor of Hurriyet Newspaper)

‘Isolated holiday period’

“Interest has increased from cultural tours to private tours or tours with fewer people. Some tour operators offered vacationers the opportunity to participate in tours with their private vehicles. Less people began to be taken on tour buses. The first preferences in cultural tours were to green areas in the nature. The biggest problem was with the international tours. The travel restrictions of the countries and the continued danger of the virus have reduced the touristic trips from Turkey to almost zero. This situation has left foreign travel agencies in a difficult position. Along with all these happenings, there has been an increase in the prices of all holiday options due to rising exchange rates and increasing costs. Consumers who have been staying at home for a long time due to the coronavirus will be looking for a more isolated holiday in the next period.”

Osman Arslan
(Deloitte Transport, Tourism and Service Sector Leader)

Operational impact

“The tourism and accommodation sector, which started with hope in 2020, is one of the sectors that will be most deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in China and spread all over the world in a short time. The tourism sector has a critical importance in terms of both the employment it provides and the increase in foreign exchange reserves that we need so much. In addition to booking cancellations, personnel management and financing configurations, industry managers are in a difficult period to determine their operational strategies for the coming period. In this period, it will be very important for the managers to keep their operational impact analyzes pro-actively updated according to different scenarios and to closely follow the related cash management and the support provided by the government, in order to respond quickly to the demand in the sector in case of positive developments in the coming days. This will help them make a difference.”