A Flash Eurobarometer study about the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism carried out by Ipsos European Public Affairs on behalf of the European Commission has shown that the vast majority of European Union citizens expect that the COVID-19 pandemic will have some long-term effects on their travel behaviour.
“Close to eight in ten EU citizens (76 per cent) expect that the COVID-19 pandemic will have some type of long-term effects on their travel behaviour, while 21 per cent expect no long-term effects,” a part of the survey reads.
According to the data published by the Commission, 49 per cent of the respondents that took part in the study think that the Coronavirus pandemic will lead them to have more attention for health and safety measures that are currently imposed in all Member States.
Moreover, somewhat fewer (38 per cent) expect that the pandemic will result in more holidays in their own country and less travelling overall, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The results have also shown that 24 per cent of the respondents think that the COVID-19 pandemic will have an impact on their destination country selection.
“More attention to the impact of tourism on local communities is mentioned by 28 per cent of respondents as an expected impact of the pandemic on their travel behaviour, while 19 per cent anticipate it will change their transport mode to the destination,” the survey emphasised.
In addition, in 19 EU Member States, respondents mentioned ‘attention for health and safety measures’ as a long-term effect that they expect the Coronavirus pandemic to have on their travel behaviour.
Simultaneously, the Eurobarometer survey on Attitudes of Europeans towards tourism demonstrates the growing importance of sustainable tourist offers regarding tourism recovery.
Around 82 per cent of EU citizens said that they wish to change some of their habits while travelling so their overall travel process can be more sustainable. In contrast, 15 per cent claimed that they are not ready to do so.
Furthermore, around a third of respondents said that they are ready to choose transport options based on ecological impact, as well as reduce water usage while on holiday, and contribute to carbon offsetting activities in order to create more sustainable habits.
“Across EU Member States, the share of respondents who are prepared to change at least some of their travel and tourism habits to be more sustainable is always above two-thirds: the proportion who are explicitly not prepared to do so ranges from 1% in Malta to 28% in Cyprus,” the report clarified.
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