Wanderlust: The Destinations Tech Square Members Are Escaping To
Every week at The Clubhouse, we pose a question on our big conversation board about what’s been on the radar for our members lately. This is designed to not only spark conversations and encourage collaboration, but to also allow us to better know our community members in a fun and unique way. Recently, we asked our community members about places they’ll be traveling to in the next six months.
Of those who participated, 77 percent are planning to travel within the U.S., while 23 percent are planning to travel outside the country. Some of the popular destinations include Italy, California, and even places like Savannah and the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are just a few hours away from Atlanta.
Like most people across the nation, our members are looking forward to resuming their travel plans with confidence, primarily due to the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out. However, this increase in safety doesn’t automatically equate to resuming how people traveled prior to the pandemic. In fact, long-distance travel isn’t necessarily the plan for most. Like the majority of Tech Square ATL (TSQATL) Social Club members who are opting-in for travel within the country in the next six months, 56 percent of participants in this 2021 report by Airbnb “prefer a domestic or local destination, versus just 21 percent who want to visit someplace international and farther away.” Additionally, due to travel constraints, Americans took to doing road trips during the pandemic to cure their cabin fever, which led to a boom in the #vanlife industry.
And this may be because of a renewed outlook on travel in general. “When we compare everything to being locked up indefinitely in our respective towers, a walk to the park can feel like travel,” says blogger Chris Mitchell of Traveling Mitch in this National Geographic article. “Now people are willing to see the magic in a meal on a patio at a restaurant down the street.”
This renewed outlook on travel also includes revised expectations for travel experiences. Because of the recommended health and safety precautions and protocols during the pandemic, people have developed health and safety expectations from the businesses they patronize. For the hospitality industry, this meant deploying customer-facing technology to give people remote access to concierge services through text messaging and more – without the need for in-person contact with hotel employees. In fact, the travel search company Kayak announced last month that they are launching a new mobile app feature that will let guests at independent hotels to check-in, lock their rooms, and order food or fresh towels.
DID YOU KNOW?
According to this February 2021 Google Insights report, searches for “resorts near me” have grown globally by 80 percent year-over-year.
So, where do you see yourself traveling in the next six months? If any, what are your concerns with travel – whether international or domestic? Let us know in the comments below.