Latest News on a Vaccine Brings Optimism to the Tourism Industry

The coronavirus vaccine is the silver bullet that humanity is waiting for to end up the crisis we are living in.

Among all the sectors there is one with the highest hopes that a global immunization will bring back a normal life, that one is tourism.

Hopefully, this month, the announcement of Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca that their vaccines are more than 90% effective, has lightened the dark mood that has encompassed the industry since the beginning of the year.

What does an effective and efficient vaccine mean to the travel industry?

The first impact will be on travelers’ confidence in boarding on a plane and heading to another land.

In the short term, that extra confidence will increase online searches for trips, and later on, the searches will turn into actual bookings.

We can also expect that governments will lift travel bans and restrictions as more countries manage to immunize their population.

With that, flight routes will resume and the cruise industry will warm up again.

How reliable are the results presented so far?

Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have vaccines in phase 3 of testing. That is the final and biggest phase in the process of developing a vaccine, results here determine if the product will work or not.

Considering that three vaccines in this phase have already proved to be highly effective, this is a strong indicator that other vaccines will also present good results.

Being optimistic, we can expect that at least one of them will be soon available in the market.

If that happens, by the end of next year most part of the global population will be vaccinated and life can finally return to normal.

How has the market received the news?

The shares of big travel companies jumped with the announcement of an effective vaccine. TripAdvisor and Expedia have grown more than 20% and Booking Holdings had experienced an increase of 18% on its market value.

Although investors are very excited with the idea of tourism rebounding soon, CEOs are still acting cautiousness considering the uncertainty and the challenges of global immunization.

How about the travelers?

A recent poll conducted by the market research firm Destination Analysts indicates that the confidence of American travelers has increased after Pfizer’s announcement.

According to it, the latest vaccine news has made 58.1% of American travelers more optimistic about life returning to normal in the next six months.

The research also pointed out that 57.1% of them believe we will have a vaccine developed by the end of this year, and 46.6% said that won’t travel without one.

With travelers getting more optimistic, how to cope with a future raise on demand?

The latest news is very exciting and a strong indicator that all the doom and gloom might find an ending soon.

If you want to make the most out of the tourism rebound, now it’s the right time to think about online sales, improving your website and strengthening your online presence.

An online booking system connected with your website is crucial to turn post-covid lookers into bookers. Check out why Orioly is the right booking software for your tour business and sign in for a free trial.