JANUARY has come and gone and still the world doesn’t look that much different from when we ended 2020. International borders are still closed, countries are still in various forms of lockdowns and restrictions and airlines are set to face another disastrous year.
In this sobering report, IATA’s baseline forecast for 2021 is for a 50.4% improvement on 2020 demand that would bring the industry to 50.6% of 2019 levels. However … “While this view remains unchanged there is a severe downside risk if more severe travel restrictions in response to new variants persist. Should such a scenario materialise, demand improvement could be limited to just 13% over 2020 levels, leaving the industry at 38% of 2019 levels.
Meanwhile, the Year of the Ox, which will come charging in on February 12, looks set to be a muted affair for Chinese communities around the world. Even China, which has largely controlled the virus, is putting brakes on – as is Singapore, which is tightening restrictions for fear of super-spreader events upsetting a pretty good record thus far of controlling the pandemic while allowing some semblance of normal life and business to continue.
So what will 2021 hold for us in travel? Well, we begin the first podcast of 2021 with a collection of views – a poem of hope read by Emma Demopoulos, key takeaways from the WiT 2021 Questionnaire, which we sent to a selection of industry players and an encouragement for you to visualize or verbalise your way out of this.
As George Orwell said, words form our world. What’s your word for 2021?
Plus, a prediction for the Year of the Ox. Happy Lunar New Year.
