Skyscanner surveyed more than 2,300 travellers from UK, USA, Australia (385 respondents), South Korea and Singapore (visiting Skyscanner’s site from 12-22 June 2020) to find out how planning for a stay will evolve in a world post-COVID19.
The survey reveals that stringent sanitation and health checks/hygiene outrank price and location now for travellers considering booking trip accommodation. This shift in traveller preference can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, with travellers saying that hygiene and sanitation practices (73%) and flexible cancellation policies (61%) have become ‘more important than before’.
When it comes to booking a property in the future, 55% of Skyscanner users score sanitation and hygiene practices as ‘extremely important’ compared to price (48%) and location (45%). Reward and loyalty programs ranked lowest (11%), after brand reputation (21%) and star rating (20%).
Skyscanner data also reveals that the hotel experience as we know it today will be reshaped. Nearly half (46%) of the surveyed travellers say they will avoid shared amenities and common areas such as fitness facilities; 40% would also prefer to dine outdoors, if given the option; and nearly one in five (19%) say they will look out for in-room experiences offered by the property, such as private spa treatments and indoor workout videos.
There are also differences in preference amongst Australia travellers in different age segments – travellers over 35 years of age are more likely (52%) than those under 35 (40%) to avoid shared amenities and facilities (52%) in vacation properties post-COVID, whilst those under 35 (31%) are more likely to look out for in-room offerings like fitness videos, and cocktail making kits compared to travellers over 35 (18%).
In line with these findings, Skyscanner has recently integrated a cleanliness score on most accommodation properties offered on its platform* to ensure that travellers have transparent and straightforward access to the right information.
“The cleanliness rating provides a clear indication of the accommodation’s hygiene standards, allowing travellers to make more informed accommodation choices,” said Ulf Waschbusch, Director of Product – Hotels for Skyscanner.
“It is still early days for the industry’s recovery, but travellers have already determined that hygiene and flexibility are the new necessities in the face of COVID-19. Moving forward, it is imperative that travel providers not only implement measures to instil consumer confidence, but also find new ways to inform the holiday booking experience.”
**Cleanliness scores are currently presented on Skyscanner desktop and mobile web platforms. The ratings are retrieved from TripAdvisor’s reviews in real-time
