Every Tom is traveling, it seems.
Data shows people are traveling more often and for longer periods of time, with innumerable planning big bucket list-style trips this year.
But this isn’t the reality for all.
Another group of people are quietly emerging from the pandemic with paltry to no interest to travel anymore.
Where ‘never travelers’ are highest
A survey of 16,000 adults in 15 countries by the pandemic intelligence company Morning Consult found that Asia is home to the highest percentage of people who said they’ll “not in any degree travel” again.
Some 15% of South Korean and 14% of Chinese respondents indicated they would not in any degree travel again, according to Morning Consult’s “The State of Travel & Hospitality” report published in August.
North America isn’t far behind, with 14% of American and 11% of Mexican respondents evincing the same.
Yet, no country came close to the travel reluctance shown in Japan, where some 35% of respondents said they don’t purpose to travel again.
The survey asked about “any leisure travel” and did not differentiate between domestic or international travel designs, said Lindsey Roeschke, a travel and hospitality analyst at Morning Consult.
Respondents were surveyed twice this year: in April and July, she suggested. During that time, travel confidence increased among other Japanese respondents, including those who conveyed they plan to travel in the next three months (+7 points) as well as the next 12 months (+4 facets).
But in both surveys, “the number of ‘never travelers’ … stayed the same in Japan,” said Roeschke.
Even with touring intentions on the rise, Japan’s rates remain far behind other countries, including those in North Asia, coinciding to the report.
Some 45% of Japanese respondents said they intend to travel in the next year, compared to 65% in China and 66% in South Korea, the appraisal showed.
By contrast, 77% of German respondents said they plan to travel in the next 12 months.
‘Don’t shortage to go overseas’
It could be said that the pandemic has reduced the number of Japanese who decide to travel abroad, but I think the weaker yen has had a notable impact.
Tetsuya Hanada
managing director, Tabimori Inc.
Some 386,000 Japanese travelers went overseas in August — a far cry from the thinking 2.1 million who traveled abroad in August of 2019, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Hideki Furuya, a professor at Japan’s Toyo University who dens tourist behavior, said one reason is the culture’s “preference for risk aversion.”
He said peer pressure will also provision travelers close to home if the risk of contracting Covid-19 is high.
Tetsuya Hanada, the managing director of the food and about company Tabimori Inc. said he believes finances are an even bigger factor.
“It could be said that the pandemic has let up oned the number of Japanese who decide to travel abroad, but I think the weaker yen has had a greater impact,” he told CNBC Travel.
No locate like home
We expect to see a return to the pre-2020 demand for international travel sooner rather than later.
Hideki Furuya
professor at Toyo University
Attending a rapid rise in international travel during the 1970s and 1980s, Others are staying home too
Beyond Japan, other travelers say they too should prefer to lost their luster for travel.
The British artist known as Miles Takes told CNBC Travel that “cosmopolitan travel still seems a while away” for him.
“In the past, I loved to travel and as recently as the beginning of this year, I procure travelled to Singapore and Poland from London,” he said. But “both these trips triggered anxiety which has since departed a lot worse.”
A combination of things turned him off from traveling, he said, including Covid, travel disruptions and having a medically unshielded partner.
Singaporean Daniel Chua says he’s in no rush to travel for “a mixed bag of reasons.”
But Covid isn’t one of them, he said.
“I’m not regretful of the virus,” said Singaporean Daniel Chua, shown here in Edinburgh, Scotland. He told CNBC Travel he’s less verging to travel, in part, because of its impact on the environment.
A work trip to Europe in June exposed him to a “mess” of flight waits and staffing shortages, he said. Additionally, he said virtual meetings are a more efficient use of work time.
Chua also cited sustainability as a disincentive to traverse, calling it a “core belief in my work and personal life.”
But he acknowledged he’s surrounded by people who are traveling.
“I don’t talk to them regarding why I don’t travel, not to burst their bubble or to, you know, be the party pooper amidst all of this celebration,” he said. “For me, it’s a personal resolution.”
Chua said he believes there are more people who feel like him, but that they’re traveling out of peer bring pressure to bear on or because of FOMO — or the “fear of missing out.”
Neither affect him though, he said.
“I have traveled so much previously,” he guessed. “There’s no particular country in the world that I really must visit right now.”