What Will Travel Look Like in the Future?

SUSTAINABILITY, INCLUSIVE JOURNEYS, AND ROAD TRIPS—HERE ARE EIGHT WAYS IN WHICH TRAVEL WILL CHANGE AFTER THE PANDEMIC, SUGGEST EXPERTS

- STEVE BROCK

With coronavirus cases continuing to spike around the world, global travellers remain indefinitely grounded. To date, just 17 countries are open to Indians without restrictions. If Germany, Canada, the Maldives, or any of the other 14 countries on that list aren’t in the cards, then travellers itching to get on an international flight will have to wait.

How long is still unknown. Elizabeth Becker, author of Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism, notes that the pandemic “decimated” the $8 trillion global travel industry overnight. “Those essential pillars of 21st-century global travel—open borders, open destinations, and visa-free travel—won’t return in the short term or even medium term,” she says.

What does that mean for the future of travel? Despite the turbulence, experts are seeing blue skies. Bruce Poon Tip, author of Unlearn: The Year the Earth Stood Still and the founder of travel company G Adventures, says not only will we travel again, we’ll do it better. “I still believe travel can be the biggest distributor of wealth the world has ever seen,” he says. “This pause gives us the gift of time to consider how we can travel more consciously.”

From a renewed commitment to sustainable tourism to creative ways to globetrot from home, here’s how travel authors, bloggers, and podcasters are navigating.

SUSTAINABILITY WILL BE A DRIVING FORCE