State of Travel 2022: Charting Travel's Future

Report Overview

The travel industry has never been more relevant than it is today. But it took a near-total absence of mobility for the world to realize just how important travel is to us – to our economy, to our personal fulfillment, to how we work, and to how we socialize.

The travel industry grew from a mere 25 million international trips in the 1950s to a whopping 1.4 billion by 2019. It accounted for nearly 1 in 10 jobs globally before the pandemic. Travel powered international business and cross-cultural exchange. And then it all stopped. Not since WWII has the global travel industry been in such a turbulent state as we have witnessed over the past years. Covid-19 put a near total halt to international travel.

But the pandemic also created a moment for self-reflection and innovation. It created new patterns of behavior as travel became more local and domestic, with a greater reliance on ground transportation, and a move away from crowds and busy hotels. People started working from home, and were able to fit more travel into a more flexible lifestyle. And traveling for business purposes came back differently, as environmental and cost concerns put pressure on companies to consider how many trips could be substituted by Zoom.

In this report, Skift Research draws on its own research and third-party data sources to chart travel’s path into the future – quite literally: there are more than 180 of them in this deck. Some parts of the world, and some travel sectors, are fully recovered, and are experimenting with new means and modes of travel. In other regions and sectors, the recovery has yet to begin in earnest. The report covers all major travel sectors and geographies, highlighting the most important trends, and providing insights into where the industry has come from, and where it is going.

What You'll Learn From This Report

• 175+ insights defining the state of travel today and the trends that will shape the future

• The use of proprietary and third-party data showing the impact of the pandemic on the travel industry, and how it has been performing since

• Data-driven insights on the current state of all travel sectors: airlines, hotels, short-term rentals, online travel, traditional travel agents, multi-day tour operators, tours and activities, cruise, and car rental

• Discussions of major consumer trends, including on the future of work, business travel, luxury travel, and sustainable travel

• Long-term drivers supporting the continued recovery of the travel industry