The travel industry is still reeling from the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. News regularly surfaces about financial restructuring plans, government support packages, bankruptcies, and layoffs in every sector. Many airlines, hotels, cruise operators, travel agencies, and rental car companies are in the throes of crisis management. But even as critical decisions continue to consume corporate boards in the travel industry, industry leaders need to get to recovery planning.
A 2020 IBM Institute for Business Value Market Research Insights Survey of 5,054 U.S. adults predict a slow return of travelers: 62 percent of respondents say they won’t travel in the next six months, and many aren’t willing to attend conferences (55 percent), visit theme parks (43 percent), or attend live sporting events (45 percent). Even when new cases of the virus wane and curves flatten, 18 percent say they will never again travel by plane, and 36% won’t board a cruise ship.
Optimism is not a…