I first wrote this article when I was 13 and bored in lockdown, I stumbled across it today and realised it wasn’t half bad. I believe it was for a school competition about holidays which I took to mean an analysis of the travel industry. Reading it back today, most of it stands true and I wouldn’t edit much (other than if add more data and analysis if I were to write it today). The only thing I’ve changed is tenses to reflect the fact we aren’t in lockdown anymore. See what you think…

As the world went into lockdown, the travel industry ground to a halt. Yet although we are now out and about again the International Air Transport Association (IATA)  is predicting that 2019 levels of travel will not be back until 2024.

During lockdown, European air travel fell 99% this meant near empty planes taking off across the globe, but a plane needs to be 75% full for an airline to break even, explaining why many airlines were reporting losses running into billions of pounds.

As a direct result of unprecedented losses for airlines, many had to make redundancies. ABTA suggests that 39,000 staff in the travel industry have already been made redundant.

Clearly the outlook is not positive for many in the travel industry with STA Travel and Flybe going into administration due to the pressure they were under due to the pandemic.

The travel industry was one of the first industries to be impacted by the pandemic and was also be one of the last to recover due to huge losses during lockdown and, as the UK enters a recession, many consumers will be reluctant to book travel for fears they may not be able to afford it.

Also, as many customers sought refunds for cancelled trips, this was expenditure many businesses could not afford.

In 2020, 70% considered a UK staycation. This could also be a threat to the travel industry as UK trips are invariably cheaper than overseas travel – an option many will choose in such times of economic uncertainty.

Although the travel industry has had a turbulent time during the coronavirus pandemic, 55% of those who had cancelled holidays would rebook, this shows that, as a nation we will still take foreign holidays and in the future keep booking, and in turn, keep Britain’s travel sector alive.

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Do comment your thoughts below.