Life as we knew it to be took a 180 degree turn faster than anyone of us could imagine. I was at the Dubai airport waiting to return back into the country on the last week of February 2020 and by the second week of March the country was under a lockdown that lasted almost 2 months. Now more than a year later it is difficult to say that things have returned to normal, instead the word “new normal” seems to accurately sum up just how crazy life has gotten.

Many people around the world were and still are confined to their homes for the most part of 2020 and 2021, while work from home became the new norm, dreaming of beach vacations, buzzing city tours and dancing away at a night club became a few of the things people started craving for. It is hard to say that the world is opening up as new variants of a virus keep prolonging a country’s measures to receive tourism, but there are some rays of light peeking through all the dark clouds. For starters countries like the States, Europe and even Dubai have slowly began easing into the new normal by allowing vaccinated tourists to enter the country by only showing a negative pcr test, instead of the 14 day quarantine period. Restaurants have started extending closing times and even introducing the no mask policy for those of who are fully vaccinated.

While the Tourism industry such as Agencies, Hotels and even tourism aids such as the WKNDTRP app find new ways to make travel attractive here are a few pros and cons that these professionals have discovered about the future of travel.

Domestic travel is picking up more than ever

Instead of the long haul flights to exotic destinations, travellers do prefer crossing the closest boarder of their home country and calling it a day. Short, no fuss and safer travel plans is the new best thing. So if you are in a landlocked country crossing one border means you are already on vacation.

Staycays and isolation holidays are a thing

Pick a beach side 5 star hotel and lounge on a sun bed for 14 days, paradise ain’t that hard to find. Away from the crowds, the buzz and obviously chances of contracting the virus these isolated luxury holidays are the new goal in life.

Contradictory sustainability

The one good thing about months of a global lockdown was the fall in pollution but that entire pro environment comes at a cost. Maintenance of grounded airplanes is much higher than when they fly regularly. So getting these birds back in the air digs are way larger hole into the finances of airlines, so in the long run it might be considered a loose-loose situation.

Mindfulness is now ingrained

Exploring a city meant pushing through crowded roads, trying out the local street food and not thinking twice about just how much of a germ-fest it is. However now masked bellboys, sanitisers at every counter and even contactless check-ins have made people more aware about their health and hygiene. These are all good things to take away from this entire experience.

For us at the WKNDTRP, our simple motto is “make travel simple”, regardless of how you wish to travel, for how long and where you want to go, we provide the very best of the best in over 30+ destinations and 6000+ venues. We ensure updated information on all our locations helping you to make the safest and best travel itineraries.

As summer is upon us, the time has come to finally, yet carefully stretch our legs and enter the world of travelling in the new normal. Travelling maybe still quite scary but once you do start to get back out there, take the WKNDTRP with you.