March 9, 2021

A question of trust

An ITB / Travelzoo global study has found European consumers’ trust for the travel industry has taken a hit with the Covid crisis.

The survey took place in the form of an online questionnaire by research company OnePoll between 12 and 18 January 2021. It was completed by 8,000 people across Canada, China, France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the USA.

A Travelzoo keynote presentation The Rise of Trust – A Global Study on Changing Customer Attitudes to Trust in Travel, outlining the survey results, will be presented by Christian Smart, General Manager of Travelzoo Germany on 10 March.

According to the survey, European consumers are disappointed with how travel brands have handled bookings and communication during the pandemic. The study found fewer people now trust travel brands and airlines in the UK, Germany, and France than before the pandemic. The USA and China however are in stark contrast to this with many saying they trust both travel brand and airlines more now.

In the UK and Germany, trust in the travel industry has suffered the most. 24% of respondents in these two countries say they trust the companies in the industry less now than before the pandemic. In contrast, there is a far greater propensity to trust travel brands in the USA and China, where confidence has increased by 47% (USA) and 49% (China).

The global study asked if trustworthiness towards people or companies was the single most important trait they could have, and 83% globally agreed with this statement.

For the travel industry, the trust factor opens up new opportunities as globally a large percentage of holidaymakers are willing to spend more money for services they know they can trust.A question of trust