The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the travel sector over the last 10 months. International travel all but halted for many countries. Airlines have filed for bankruptcy protection. Traditional tourist hot spots have become cold spots. The travel sector has been forced to rip up big chunks of its playbook and start fresh.
One idea gaining traction… Travel subscriptions, Costco has partnered with WheelsUp to offer a yearly private jet subscription for US$17,499.99. TripAdvisor is launching a yearly subscription service called TripAdvisor plus for US$99, which offers access to travel deals and other perks, and some airlines have begun experimenting with travel subscriptions as well, where they offer fixed rate flights in exchange for a secure, continuous source of revenue.
“In Southeast Asia, we’ve already seen airlines testing the waters with this concept,” says Hannah Pearson,founder of Kuala Lumpur-based travel consulting company Pear Anderson “AirAsia launched its unlimited pass for domestic flights in Malaysia earlier this year — and given that they’ve now rolled it out in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, we can deduce that it has been a success.”
Another area Pearson could see taking off… Subscription workcations, where “hotel chains offer flexible bookings and benefits for customers to stay and work out of any of their hotels across the country.” We are starting to see this crop up in countries like Singapore, where hotels are now offering specific work packages.
The UK is a nation of intrepid vacationers so i am sure that when we are allowed, we will resume our appetite for International travel but what shape the travel sector is in and the new rules of engagement are remains to be seen.
One thing that is starting to become clearer however is that pricing and capacity will be very different on the other side.
