Entry bans and other travel restrictions as quarantine, testing, and recently even vaccine certificates have mostly affected couples and families, a recent survey conducted by SchengenVisaInfo.com shows.
Through the survey, in which participated 8,205 travellers from different parts of the world, 41 per cent of whom travel more than three times a year, 20.5 per cent three times per year, and the rest at least once a year, SchengenVisaInfo.com has found that the majority of travellers – 95 per cent – would consider travelling as soon as the travel restrictions are lifted.
87 per cent of these travellers claim that they desperately need to take a vacation/trip outside their country of residence right now.
Travellers Want to Visit Their Families Outside the Country, but Hopes Are Low It Can Happen This Year
Asked for what reason they would travel first if the borders reopen in the following months, three-quarters of the participants (74 per cent) claim that the first trip they would take would be to visit family members and friends. Only 17 per cent plan to travel in order to relax, 14 per cent in order to explore new places, and the rest for other reasons, including work-related (8 per cent).
More than half of them – 54 per cent – believe that despite the spread of the virus and its mutation all across the world, it is not very risky to travel abroad right now. While only 12 believe that travelling poses risks, the rest 34 say that it could be risky, but are not sure of it.
In spite of their wish to travel as soon as possible, and the belief that travelling is not that risky right now, hopes are low among travellers that they will be able to travel this year, as:
- only 29 per cent of the participants believe such a thing will be possible
- 37 per cent are quite sure that taking a trip outside their country of residence will not be possible
- the rest are unsure
Currently, there are a total of 22,834,275 world citizens infected with COVID-19, 98,593 of which are in serious or critical condition. The countries with the highest number of infections are the US, Brazil, India, France, Russia, UK, Italy, Turkey, Spain and Germany.
According to the WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard, the world is currently at the beginning of the third wave. While expectations are high that the vaccination roll-out all across the world will halt a possible wave bigger than the previous one, the spread of the new COVID-19 mutations has scared many governments worldwide, pushing them to keep borders closed and restrictions in place.
Travel Bans Have Affected Binational Couples More Than Anyone Else
Outside their wish to travel, when asked who has been affected the most by the entry ban and other restrictions imposed to curb the Coronavirus spread, 71 per cent of respondents agree that couples have suffered most as a result of these measures.
17 claim that families have been most affected, 6 per cent say workers, and 2.5 per cent say students.
With entry bans in place, borders closed all over the world, embassies refusing to issue visas, and the absence of flights, thousands of lovers have had to spend the summer apart, thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and even Saint Valentine’s day, the day of lovers.
SchengenVisaInfo.com has continuously reported on the situation of these couples, many of whom still remain apart.
“Testing Is the Most Effective Form of Controlling Spread of COVID-19 When Travelling”
The majority of participants note that the most effective form of preventing the spread of COVID-19 when travelling is by obliging travellers to test for COVID-19 upon arrival (62 per cent), while another 17 per cent say that quarantine should be imposed.
47 per cent of the respondents agree that a combination of testing, quarantine and second testing would be the most effective.*
Travellers’ claims that testing is the safest and most effective form to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while travelling is backed by several representative groups of the travel and tourism sector, including the European Travel Commission, the World Travel and Tourism Council, Airports Council International Europe, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), as well as the UN World Tourism Organization.
Only recently, IATA has encouraged the governments of countries worldwide, including EU countries, to accept antigen tests for arrivals from abroad, citing a new OXERA and Edge Health research, which has found that best-in-class antigen tests generally provide similar results to the PCR test by accurately identifying infected travellers.
*The percentages don’t add up as some of the respondents that have selected this option have also selected the two above.
Over 40% Believe Vaccination Should Become Obligatory for Travel
When asked about vaccination, the difference between those who think COVID-19 vaccination should become obligatory is not that big, as 59 per cent express their belief that such an obligation should not be imposed on travellers, while the rest believed that the obligation should be imposed.
Among the respondents, 81 per cent of them are familiar with vaccination certificates, while the rest, 19 per cent, have never heard of them.
Recently, the topic of vaccine certificates has been widely discussed all across the world. Several world countries have already started to implement schemes through which they issue such certificates to their vaccinated citizens and at the same time permit entry to foreign travellers holding such proof of vaccination.
The plans to create such a document have been revealed by the European Union as well, which will be called the Digital Green Pass. The same will include information on whether its holder has been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 recently, and if not, the results of COVID-19 tests that the traveller has taken before his trip/upon arrival to his/her destination country.
KEY FINDINGS
- The majority of travellers (95 per cent ) would consider travelling as soon as the travel restrictions are lifted
- 87 per cent claim they desperately need to take a trip outside their country =
- Three-quarters of the participants (74 per cent) claim that the first trip they would take once the borders reopen would be to visit family members and friends
- 54 per cent believe that despite the spread of the virus and its mutation, it is not very risky to travel abroad right now
- Only 29 per cent believe they will be able to travel outside their country this year
- 71 per cent agree that couples have suffered most as a result of these measures
- 62 per cent believe that the most effective form of preventing the spread of COVID-19 when travelling is by obliging travellers to test upon arrival
- 59 per cent think COVID-19 vaccination should become obligatory for travel
- 81 per cent of the respondents are familiar with vaccination certificates, while the rest have never heard of them
METHODOLOGY
SchengenVisaInfo.com has carried out the survey on its official website between February 20 to March 20, with 8,205 respondents, 5,472 female and 2,733 male.
The biggest age groups that have taken part in the survey are 20-26 with 2,151 respondents, 27-34 with 2,826 respondents, and 35-45 with 1,779 respondents.
Some of the percentages may not total one hundred due to rounding.
The main aim of the survey was to gather information about travel intentions and travellers’ view on current travel restrictions and the effect of these measures on travellers overall.
