After two whole years of travel restrictions and ever-changing entry requirements, 2022 finally sees a light at the end of the tunnel. As the world gradually opens back up, 2022 is set to be the ultimate year of travel as the wanderlust finally dig out their suitcases and hop on flights to explore the world.
Following a prolonged hiatus, travel is officially back on the table and this year has been dubbed by many as ‘the year of revenge travel’. The phenomenon of revenge travel has seen the travel market explode in 2022 with easing restrictions and a thirst to make up for lost time sending everyone into a travel buzz.
One thing we have learnt following the COVID-19 pandemic is how fleeting life is and that everything can change in a moment. We have come to appreciate the freedom we have which before was taken for granted. We understand the privilege we have to be able to travel and the pain of having that stripped away from us. Under lockdowns, quarantines and restrictions, our feet have become itchy with a burning desire to fly away to some far-off destination.
We have also come to value staycation and appreciate the joy of local travel just as much as international travel. As a global community, we have longed more than ever to have our freedom back, to travel the globe and now that it is available to us once again, there is no doubt that 2022 is the year of revenge travel.
Over the last two years, there has been a huge re-evaluation in everyone’s life about what truly matters and for many of us, travel is something we are strongly passionate about and feel lost without. The frustration of being tied to one place has escalated travel to a higher degree of importance. Not only does travel benefit the world in terms of income, education and opening minds, it also benefits the individual, fuelling inspiration, pushing boundaries and broadening perspectives. It was only when it was taken away from us that we truly appreciated the influence travel has on our lives and the positivity it brings.
For some, freedom has come back tenfold with many having greater flexibility in their daily life. With the introduction of working from home, many businesses realised that staff work just as hard, if not harder, without the daily commute and with the extra time to spend with families, friends and on things they enjoy.
Whilst this is certainly not applicable to everyone, many businesses have allowed remote working to continue allowing employees to work from anywhere. In addition, an abundance of people took the lockdown period to work on things they always dreamed of including starting companies and becoming self-employed. With a greater work/life balance and the opportunity to work from anywhere, the lines between travelling for business or leisure will continue to be blurred as a greater number of people have more flexibility to combine the two. Now that more of us can work from anywhere, why would we choose to work inside the same four walls instead of an exciting overseas destination?
As COVID-19 brought travel to a standstill, tourism was one of the biggest industries affected by the pandemic, but the collapse of both domestic and international travel has been rebuilt and is fuelled with the fire of a global community desperate for adventure and escape. There has been no greater time to see the world and truly embrace 2022 as the year of revenge travel.