INTERNATIONAL. US travel intelligence service Skift’s monthly ‘Travel Health Index’ for April suggests an escalating and encouraging recovery in the global travel market.
Based on analysis from data partners, performance measured in 22 major countries shows the sector has recovered to 77% of pre-pandemic levels.
The Skift Travel Health Index is a real-time measure of the performance of the travel industry across those countries and the core verticals within it. It is designed to provide the travel industry with a powerful tool for strategic planning amid deeply uncertain times.
April 2020 saw an all-time low during the pandemic, with the Index recording a score of just 20. Two years on, April 2022 registered the highest score since. The Index now stands at 77 points against a 2019 baseline of 100.
Just three countries (Mexico, China and Russia), and China’s Special Administrative Region Hong Kong, had a decline in their Index score in the month just passed.
Six countries achieved double-digit growth in their recovery during April, namely Thailand, Argentina, Singapore, Indonesia, Germany and India.
This underlines that recovery is gathering significant momentum in several Asia Pacific countries which were slower than most places across the world in lifting travel restrictions.
While acknowledging concerns about the impact of high inflation and a possible recession on the travel industry, general sector sentiment suggests that the summer of 2022 will be a bumper season.
Skift Director of Research, Data Product Wouter Geerts said: “The latest data and insights from our partners show that the travel industry is continuing to return to ‘traditional’ levels of demand, and traveller behaviour is looking increasingly like it did before the pandemic.”
