Millionaire Angel investor Lior Poly is a known world traveler. What does he think about the future of travel in a post-pandemic world?
Lior Poly
As coronavirus rages on a full 12 months later, and with travel restrictions changing by the day from country to country, it’s only understandable that the travel industry has been shaken. From the lowly camping site to the high-class hotel, there is a deathly stillness across the sector. The travel industry is on its knees, and nobody seems willing to save it.
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The trouble is that nobody is booking a vacation. Nobody wants to take the chance of having a holiday canceled, so millions of people are staying home this summer… but can the travel industry survive another year of lockdown? Lior Poly, angel investor and marketing mogul, says yes, it can.
The Impact of Covid-19 on Travel
World travel has taken a severe nosedive this last year. Across four quarters, flights were canceled, re-routed, refunded, and altered until big names went bust all over the globe. According to Statista, international tourism plummeted from a total net worth of $685,065 million US, down to just USD 396,370 million in the space of a single year. 2020 saw a fall of more than half of all global tourism… let that sink in.
There are whole towns whose revenue this affects – entire countries, even. The Financial Times recently ran an article about New York and London having suffered incredible losses, with businesses closing left, right and center because the tourists simply aren’t there anymore. It’s not just the lack of tourists, either, but local lockdowns have left hospitality venues struggling to survive altogether, without the input of regulars to support them.
With all of this negativity on the tourism front, millionaire investor Lior Poly turns his attention to his love of travel. Where will the future of the tourism sector turn next? Can it recover from the 2019-2020 devastation? He believes it can.
Lior Poly on Tourism after the Pandemic
Lior Poly, a world traveler and digital marketer, isn’t worried about the future of the travel trade.
“Tourism has always been big business. Ever since the first train took the first person to the seaside for the day, the idea of taking a vacation has been deep-rooted in western culture.”
With the global tourism trade in the last year falling $400k shorter than expected, it seems to make sense that the only way to go is back up again. As people become more used to covid-19 restrictions, they will start to regain confidence in the systems to prevent the spread of the virus.
Better yet, as the vaccine is rolled out on a broader scale, we should see a relaxing of some restrictions. In turn, this will bring back the reliance on tourism that we have had in the past.
However, it’s not all good news as not all travel industry sectors are likely to spring back so quickly. There are areas of the world where the lack of tourists might never be overcome. Imagine now, if you will, crowding into a music venue, attending a nightclub to dance, or being crammed into a theatre to watch a show. All these areas – although not directly travel-related – are in danger.
What will the world do to encourage tourists to return? We suppose that depends on the country… but given past examples of successful tourism campaigns, we can’t wait to find out.