A matter of trust
Women’s travel survey reveals barriers to travel
A new study conducted by JourneyWoman shows that women lack the trust and transparency they need to feel comfortable travelling right now.
The global study, titled “Embracing the Unknown: The Risk and Reward of Travel”, surveyed 1,513 highly experienced women travellers in the 55-75+ demographic to assess shifts in travel, including the impact on of the pandemic on decision-making criteria, reputation and trust, and destination choice.
“Trust is fundamental to every relationship and transaction, and it’s even more important when it comes to travel,” said Carolyn Ray, CEO + Publisher, JourneyWoman. “Our study shows that we’re not only having a public health and travel crisis; we’re having a trust crisis. The pandemic has given the travel services industry an opportunity to demonstrate a deep commitment to women’s safety, yet it is clearly not meeting the expectations of the world’s most seasoned and influential travellers. Experienced women travellers, those who understand both the risk and reward of travel, will not travel until they believe that their safety and health come before corporate profits.”
In the study, which was conducted in June, the majority of respondents are not planning to travel internationally until 2021, with most planning to wait until the second half of 2021. Seventy-three per cent of respondents said they would pay more to feel safe when travelling.
Key findings
Who to Trust—the Erosion of Reputation
- When it comes to sources of information, women place their trust in medical professionals, public healthcare authorities and healthcare organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO). Canadians were found to be more trusting of government while Americans are more likely to trust social media.
- Most respondents believe that travel-related businesses have not done a good job of managing reputation during COVID-19. When asked who has done a poor, acceptable or good job managing reputation, only hotels ranked as net positive. Airlines and insurance companies were seen to have done a poor job overall.
- Handling of COVID-19 by states/ provinces are viewed as neutral for Canadians but are considerably negative for Americans.
How to Travel—the New Criteria
- Women still want to pursue their ‘bucket list’, with most eager for new, undiscovered destinations. However, they are seeking less populated places and using new criteria, including transportation in and out of a destination, access and quality of healthcare and a country’s handling of COVID-19, to make decisions.
- Over 71% of women typically purchase travel insurance, with comprehensive insurance the most popular. Americans are more likely to take no insurance or just trip cancellation insurance, whereas Canadians are more likely to take just medical insurance.
Where to Go—the Ideal Destination Redefined
- Western Europe and North America remain attractive destinations for Canadian and American women. The first destinations women will travel to outside of their home country, include the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, US and Ireland; 72% will not go to China.
- Interestingly, Canadians’ outlook on the U.S. is negative, whereas domestic travel is overwhelmingly the most attractive for Americans.
- Women prefer to stay with friends and family, small boutiques, Bed and Breakfasts, where travellers have greater control over their environment.
- Interestingly, Canadians are more negative towards large hotels versus Americans. Large cruises did not perform well, with the vast majority (82%) not considering cruises. Forty per cent said they will not stay at large resorts.
