The Future of Travel in a New World

In a report released on the 14th of May 2020 by the U.N. World Tourism Organisation, it has been confirmed that 100% of the world’s 217 countries now have travel restrictions in place due to the Coronavirus, 72% of them have completely closed their boarders to inbound tourism.

The travel industry might be at a complete standstill, but we are starting to see glimmers of hope. In the last few days, Iceland have announced plans to re-open their boarders to international travellers by the 15th of June 2020. Hotels and resorts have reopened in Vietnam for domestic travellers, offering fantastic promotions as part of their post pandemic recovery programme.

We don’t know when the world will fully recover, but we do know this; we will travel again. The desire we have to explore, escape and disconnect from our daily lives is and always has been strong. Travel gives us so much, the anticipation of an upcoming trip is half the fun, planning that perfect new holiday wardrobe or researching the best places to eat is exciting. Discovering somewhere new, meeting new people or re connecting with loved ones we are travelling with enriches our world. We are then left with memories and stories to tell, which, unlike material possessions which come and go, grow richer with each passing year.

We can’t deny that travel will change after the coronavirus pandemic, but how might it be different? Based on emerging new travel trends and the changed mindset we will all have, here are some of the ways the travel industry are expecting that things will change.

Staycation - the new Vacation

Travelling by plane naturally means being in pretty close contact with a lot of people, both at the airport and on board. Some destinations require multiple flights to reach and this is something that a lot of people won’t feel comfortable about doing again straight away. We have half of 2020 ahead of us still and after months in lockdown at home, missing family and friends, most of us will crave a change of scenery at least.

The UK has so many wonderful escapes for us to rediscover, here are just a few of my favourite examples.

Foxhill Manor – Cotswolds

Foxhill Manor is an intimate Grade II listed Manor House in the heart of some of Britain’s most picturesque countryside. With just five individually styled bedrooms and three luxurious suites, it’s your manor house, social distancing is absolutely possible here, you could even hire the whole Manor house to meet with all of your family once lockdown rules are eased.

Wilderness Reserve – Suffolk

Wilderness is a collection of homes set within a 5,000 acre estate of rolling woodlands, lakes and landscaped gardens in Suffolk. Guests can enjoy these exclusive use homes in complete privacy with the option of private chefs and housekeepers. Each home is unique in its style, but all feature open fireplaces, underfloor heating and roll top baths.

The Fish Hotel & Retreat – Cotswolds

The Fish Hotel & Retreat has a range of accommodation options to suit everyone, from stylish suites to romantic huts hidden in the forest with hot tubs on the terrace and treehouses, the most exciting type of getaway for little ones!

Privacy and space will be more important than ever before

By their very nature, some destinations offer guests so much space. The Maldives, for example, only have one resort per island and accommodation is often spread out to ensure that guests feel the seclusion of a paradise island escape.

Baros is a resort in the Maldives with a very high percentage of repeat guests, which is unusual for the Maldives and speaks volumes for the quality of accommodation and service that you can expect here. For the ultimate privacy, you can even book a romantic dinner out at sea!

The Nautilus is a brand new resort on the Baa Atoll, which has only been open for just over a year. In such a short space of time, the resort has already built an incredible reputation. With only 26 private beach and ocean houses, this is a small, intimate resort that doesn’t believe in the concept of time, there are no opening or closing times so it really feels like a home from home. A seaplane will transfer you from Male airport to The Nautilus in 30 minutes, you can even land directly on the beach outside your beach house!

Iceland is not short of space to explore, with the majority of the population living in Reykjavik, as soon as you leave the city you are completely immersed in nature. A stay at The Retreat at Blue Lagoon is an experience like no other, step straight into the lagoon from your bedroom and even book a masseuse to meet you there!

A renewed focus on responsible tourism

When we travel, we have an opportunity to help to make the world a better place. Who we choose to give our money to really can make a difference, we can support those who work hard to protect the environment and provide social and economic benefits to the local people.

&beyond opened their first Game Reserve in Africa in 1991, their ‘impact model’ is widely regarded as one of the most ambitious and successful blueprints for international ecotourism.

Across their many conservation programmes, some of &beyond’s key achievements include a breeding programme which saw Lions donated to Rwanda’s Akagera National Park, reversing a 20 year local extinction, Rhino’s have been bred and donated to Botswana, many classrooms have been built for children and they have provided thousands of local people with access to clean drinking water.

Six Senses have a collection of beautiful luxury hotels and resorts all over the world and have an excellent reputation for being environmentally friendly and socially responsible. Six Senses believe that ‘there is no better designer than nature and we have a duty to respect it’, all resorts are built using renewable materials and blend perfectly into the environment.

Six Senses Fiji is 100% solar powered, they make their own high-quality drinking water in a reverse osmosis plant and refinery, grow organic produce and use worm-based septic tanks. The resort has a conservation programme for Fijian crested Iguanas, a critically endangered species with less than 5,000 remaining in the world, they currently look after 17 Iguanas and were recently thrilled to announce the arrival of two babies! Six Senses are committed to employing locally, they offer apprenticeships and work in partnership with ‘Rise Beyond the Reef’, which help over 1,000 local women by teaching them to create marketable goods using traditional skills.

Making it count – fewer, but longer and more meaningful trips

There has undeniably been a positive impact on the environment since the world went into lockdown, we have all heard many stories about clearer skies and clearer seas. Lockdown has also had a positive effect in many ways on families, people have been forced to slow down, this quality time with our immediate families and time to miss loved ones that we can’t see at the moment has reminded a lot of us about what is most important in life. Our old lives were often extremely busy, holidays were normally one week to two and we could jet set wherever we liked on last minute cheap flights.

Perhaps now we will re think this old way of life, if we take less flights, but spend more time travelling we will reduce our carbon footprint, just one way in which we can do our bit to protect the planet. By staying somewhere for longer, we can really immerse ourselves in that destination, connect with the local people, understand the culture and come away feeling that each trip has been completely worthwhile.

When we travel, it often takes at least a few days to wind down, put the day to day stresses of work on one side and truly relax. Lockdown has allowed us all to experience how it feels to spend weeks living a slower pace of life, having enough sleep, spending time on ourselves and our families and this part of it certainly has felt good to me.

360 Private Travel in partnership with CHOOSE

I run my own business which is bonded

by 360 Private Travel. At 360 Private Travel, we believe that the world is a wonderful place and that we should work together to keep it that way.

This is why 360 Private Travel has partnered with CHOOOSE who work hard to battle the core problem of climate change – emissions from big polluters. CHOOSE funds removal of air pollution (CO2) on a global scale, via green projects in developing countries. The money goes to UN-regulated clean energy projects in developing countries.

At 360 Private Travel, we have chosen to be climate positive (to neutralise more CO2 than you leave behind). We have compensated for 112 tonnes of CO this year and helped to fund the best sustainability and CO reducing projects in developing countries. This equals the climate effect of more than 900 flights from London to Oslo.

As soon as you are ready to plan your next trip, I will be on hand to offer honest advice and explain the latest guidelines for your chosen destination. When you choose to travel with me, you choose peace of mind as I am personally on hand 24/7 from the very first moment we are in touch.