Holiday abroad may have been non-existent in 2020, but you’re not as worried because your trip is booked in 2021. But, could holidays next year be affected by the coronavirus? Although international travel is slowly restarting with many countries reopening their borders to welcome tourists once again, there’s no guarantee that this is going to continue – and if there’s a second wave of COVID-19, we could all end up in lockdown for months again. So, if you’ve got a trip booked for 2021, it’s natural to feel a little uncertain. Should you cancel it? Should you hope for the best? And more importantly, what should you expect?
Travel Insurance
The best advice that you can follow right now is to get travel insurance for any trips that you have booked in the future. Make sure your insurance covers Coronavirus among any other medical conditions so that in the worst-case scenario of you catching the virus while abroad, you will be able to access treatment and medical care quickly without facing massive charges that you have to handle on your own. You should also consider taking out insurance that covers you if your trip is cancelled or cut short due to COVID-19.
Social Distancing
Big crowds are likely to be a thing of the past around the world for quite some time. If you were hoping for a holiday filled with partying in big clubs, you might need to compromise and expect something quieter. Social distancing is expected to remain in place wherever you go at least until a coronavirus vaccine is released, and it’s likely to go on for longer. So, wherever you travel to, chances are you’ll be expected to keep your distance from other people and them from you.
A Cleaner Environment
One good thing to come out of the COVID-19 outbreak is that everybody is doing a lot more cleaning. And wherever you travel to, this is likely to be apparent. Expect your hotel to be cleaned a lot more often than you are used to and you’ll probably find hand-washing and hand sanitising stations for guests to use everywhere. The cleaner, the better!
Quieter Flights
If you haven’t yet booked your flight tickets for your trip in 2021, then you may want to prepare for the possibility of a flight ticket increase. This is because airlines are currently carrying fewer passengers per flight than they typically would in order to easily allow for more social distancing on board. Long-haul airlines are blocking out the middle aisle and smaller airlines are only selling tickets for window and aisle seats in order to put more distance between the passengers.
Face Coverings
As mandatory mask-wearing rules come into force around the world, face coverings are going to be an important addition to your suitcase wherever you travel to. Be sure to look up the local guidelines and rules for face-covering in the country that you are travelling to as they can differ. For example, some areas may not allow you to wear cloth masks, while some countries do not expect children to wear masks.
Potential Cancellation
While travel is getting back on its feet and some people have even been on holiday already, it’s important to approach your 2021 trip with the potential that it might get cancelled. Nobody knows what is going to happen with coronavirus over the next year – we might have a vaccine by the time you travel and things could be almost back to normal, or we could end up in full lockdown again. So, be cautious and ready to change your plans at the last minute if needed.
If you’ve got a trip booked for 2021, you might not be completely out of the coronavirus woods. These are just some of the ways that your holiday could be affected if we don’t have a vaccine by then.
