How Travel Has Changed Since The Pandemic – And How It Should Change

Christopher Elliot, a contributing writer to Forbes.com, quotes our CEO Joshua Weiss in an article discussing how travel has changed since the pandemic, and how it should change.

Lower your prices

So why are so many travelers sitting on the sidelines? Are they afraid of COVID-19? Not necessarily, say experts. They’re waiting for fares to fall. Every hotel and airline revenue manager with access to a computer knows the exact point at which scaredy-cat consumers become buyers, but they need to green-light the lower prices. “Airlines are very tuned in to traveler buying habits, and travelers have made it very clear that they value low up-front fares above all else,” says Max Leitschuh, a senior transportation analyst at WorldAware.

Will any of this happen? We’ll see. I talked to frequent traveler Joshua Weiss about how travel has changed since the pandemic, and he told me he believes the travel industry won’t change unless it has to. And so far, it hasn’t had to. 

“I’d expect them to double down on failure rather than recognizing the need to change the game because the world has changed forever,” says Weiss.

Failure may be inevitable for many airlines, car rental companies and hotels. And unless meaningful changes happen soon, the process will only accelerate this summer.

And that could permanently change the way you travel.