Current events involving the global pandemic have many wondering if we will ever travel again. Of course the answer is yes, but things will be different. How different? It’s hard to say, but I feel confident in saying that people will want to travel for recreation. For a template, think back to the impact 9/11 had on travel. Now, this will probably prove to be a much bigger change to travel than 9/11, but the past can still teach us much.

Back when 9/11 hit I was in a job which involved extensive business travel. I flew shortly after the attacks, and everything felt different. Passengers eyed each other with suspicion. Many were clearly on edge. New security screening came in place, and most gladly accepted it. There was talk of business travel changing, of more meetings happening electronically. Sure the technology wasn’t were it is today, but it was possible to do a lot of business by telephone and email.

This lasted a few months, and gradually people’s anxiety calmed, business travel resumed, and we started complaining about the security measures. Oh, travel was forever changed, and subsequent events added to the security measures. Remember when we could take beverages through security, and you never had to put your shoes on a conveyor belt? But despite these changes, travel resumed. The industry grew.

Now this corona virus pandemic has absolutely devastated the travel industry. Airplanes sit empty, hotels are vacant, cruise ships are idle. USTravel.org reports that travel industry losses will impact the GDP by $1.2 trillion. (More info here) This is huge, and it will take a long time for the industry to recover. But do we really believe that it will never come back, not even partway? Will Canadians and those living in the northern US really be content to never lay in the sun in January? Will art lovers from outside of Italy really be content to only see the Sistine Chapel on the internet? Will we somehow become content with only our own little patch of the earth, and know nothing of the wonders around the world? I don’t think so.

As with 9/11, there will be more precautions. Our temperature will be taken at airports. Costs will go up. More of us will wear masks and buy trip cancellation insurance. Many may favor travel within their own country, or at least to places to which they can drive. But is it really believable that, for example, the cruise industry is just going to give up, pack up their things, and sell their ships for hauling cargo? Or that the beautiful resorts in the Caribbean will just close their doors, maybe get renovated into condos?

I don’t think so. Humans are wanderers - it is how we covered the planet. Sooner or later people will start to wander again.