COVID-19 has effected every business around the globe. Airlines have had nearly all their fights grounded and production lines come to a grinding halt. One of the worst industries affected has been travel and transport. This is an industry that relies on social activities, whether this is heading out with friends and family or transport to and from the airport. Without these occurrences, there is no consistent flow of customers that a business needs to survive.
The Country Is Now On Lock Down
Following Boris Johnson speech, we are now only allowed to leave our homes for exercise and to acquire essential supplies. This has to lead to all bars, clubs and gyms to closing which is a huge shock to nearly anyone. I don’t think anyone could have expected the measures to become this drastic but, these are rules we have to follow to protect the NHS and those with pre-existing health conditions.
The nation is struggling. One day we’re getting up, going to work in the morning and the next day we all need to stay at home. It’s no surprise that many are finding it difficult to stay motived and keep up with their normal routine.
Group Travel
A huge source of income for most travel companies is the love for going out in large groups. This could be for an exciting stag dew or maybe it’s just travelling to an educational school trip. COVID-19 has completely eliminated all possibilities of travelling in large groups as we all need to stay indoors and stay safe.
So what does this mean for the travel industry? Well, this means that if your a travel company with large vehicles you might as well put them away into storage. The reason for this is due to the fact that there will be no demand for group travel as it is no longer safe. Along with not requiring any large vehicles, you may even need to make certain staff members redundant. As a business, this may be something that you never want to do but it may be essential to guarantee the survival of the company.
Intenrantional Tourism
As previously mentioned, thousands of flights have been grounded in many countries around the globe. Certain counties have even created policies to prevent people from travelling from certain counties with the goal of hoping to slow down the spread of COVID-19. There are currently no direct flights or train connections between the UK and Australia which has had a huge effect on both UK’s and Australian travel industry. In 2018 17% of all visits to Australia were made by the British and without this flow of tourism both counties have been hugely affected.
Airport Transfers
The source of income that every taxi firm in the UK relies on, airport transfers. With the extortionate price of parking within an airport more and more are deciding to just pay for a taxi to and from the airport completely avoiding the parking charges. With next to no flights leaving the airport at this moment of time we have started to see the need for airport transfers completely go dry.
What does this mean for the travel industries? Well without this source of income taxi firms around the globe will be seriously struggling. You would think that it’s as simple as going out and finding a new source of income but it’s not that easy. Its not just airport transfers that have dried up there is literally no need for taxies at this moment of time. Many companies will be seriously struggling at this moment of time and we just hope as many can pull through as possible.