In March 2020, the world changed forever, no matter where you were in the world. COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and national and international travel screeched to a holt. 

If there was one word that could describe how society felt at the time, it would be ‘trapped’. So when lockdown restrictions eased towards the start of 2021, and the vaccine rollout started, people looked to travel abroad again.

This coined the term ‘revenge travelling’. People going to places more frequently as to make up for time lost due to COVID. The impact has been noticeable. So, if you feel like you’re noticing more people are in the streets of cities, that’s because there are!

What do the statistics say?

The statistics back this phenomena up too. Data from ACI Europe reveals that European airports experienced a staggering surge in passenger volumes. There was almost a 250% increase observed in the first half of 2022. This notable growth can be attributed to the increasing number of countries that began welcoming visitors during that time period. Skyscanner’s research indicate that a significant proportion of surveyed individuals, specifically three-quarters (77%), have expressed their intentions to maintain or increase their expenditure on trips abroad compared to the previous year. Notably, almost half of the respondents (41%) are planning to allocate a higher budget for their upcoming travels. 

These two pieces of research indicate that not only is ‘revenge travel’ clearly a thing, it also isn’t slowing down. Based on industry outlook in 2021, it was projected that incentive budgets will experience a significant 34% increase in the year 2022. It will then proceed to increase in the years following – showing that there is growth in incentive offers and companies offering them.

How have we been dealing with an international travel boom?

Jill Dunlop, head of Global Events at veSpace, remarked on the opening up of travel destinations when she attended a conference at IMEX Frankfurt. She comments, “due to the pandemic, international exhibitions have taken a hit. But I was so glad to get back to IMEX to see people I haven’t seen in a number of years.” 

International and national travel is a big thing for a lot of companies, and incentives are a great way of keeping clients happy. At veSpace we are incentive experts. Our own Paulina Zapala was announced as one of the 2023 C&IT Incentive A-Listers award – of which we pride ourselves upon. We are managing the increase in desire to travel and get out there after a few years of having to stay at home.

The desire to get out and about and go to places you’ve never been before has been a need for many after the pandemic – leading to what we now know as ‘revenge travel.’

If you are interested in planning an international incentive or other event, please get in touch.