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Travel journalists are ready to get back on their beat, and are surprisingly optimistic about the prospects of a comeback for the travel industry, according to a new survey conducted by Finn Partners.
Almost all (95 percent) of the 300 travel journalists from such international outlets as Forbes, The Telegraph and Lonely Planet polled by Finn said that they are willing to head out on press trips once travel restrictions are lifted.
That willingness has its roots in what those journalists see as demand for travel-related content. While a portion of that interest is centered on close-to-home travel, that is not the whole story. More than eight out of 10 respondents (83 percent) said that they are still looking for international travel content.
Journalists from Asia showed the most interest in international travel destinations, with US and UK-based reporters showing a greater interest in domestic and regional travel.
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Overall, destination-centric content ranked high for nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of respondents, and well over half (60 percent) said they would like to stay updated on hotel openings.
Travel to low-density locations is expected to make the quickest rebound, but several other factors are also in high demand. Slightly more than half of respondents (51 percent) said they are looking for information about health and wellness-oriented travel destinations, and 49 percent said that ecotourism and environmentally friendly design were important selling points.
Finn’s survey was done in conjunction with its “Future of Travel Journalism” webinar, which featured top international travel media.
Some of the webinar’s key takeaways: luxury travel will experience a resurgence (since it is “naturally socially distancing”), stricter standards for cruise lines could restore customer confidence, and strong content will have a greater effect on consumers than deals or discounts.
Finn New York travel division managing partner Virginia M.Sheridan said that the journalists surveyed “are very confident in the resurgence of travel and are helping to lead the way keeping travel storytelling authentic and compelling.”
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