How We'll Travel Again

What will summer travel look like in 2020? Will hotels or private rentals fare better? Is cruising dead in the water? Will people actually pay for virtual tours? I called up my old boss, OG research analyst Lorraine Sileo, to get answers to these questions and more. Recommendations: Maggie reccomends RT.live, Instagram founder Kevin Systrom's data tool tracking state-by-state COVID-19 contagion rates. Lorraine recommends Smith Travel Research, the hospitality industry data provider that has been making more data available on its site and via webinars during the crisis.  Lorraine also recommends Forward Keys, which tracks global reservations to provide data and forecasts on traveler flow around the world.

As VP of research and analytics at Brand USA, Carroll is responsible for the insights that inform Brand USA’s marketing strategy and also the marketing strategy for hundreds of stakeholders – destinations, hoteliers, attractions. As an interpreter between the supply and demand sides of travel, she has been busy tracking consumer sentiment as the COVID-19 epidemic evolves.  Carroll and I talked about how travelers have reprioritized during the pandemic, what their first post-COVID trips will be like, and when marketers should begin reaching out to them again.  Recommendations Carroll recommended Arrivalist's new Daily Travel Index, which posts daily data on road trips in all 50 states. Maggie recommended the YouTube channel of Dr. John Campbell for daily updates on COVID-19 around the world. 

Travel research analyst Maggie Rauch talks to leaders in and beyond travel about how we will get the world moving again, and how the COVID-19 pandemic will reshape the travel experience and the industry that drives it.  Notes on future episodes and other COVID-19-related insights and analysis can be found at ClarityinCrisis.com.