Tourism: The strongest trends in 2023

All hopes remain allowed in 2023 in the tourism sector. Indeed, this year is considered, by the experts, as that of the real return to normal, namely the return to the fundamentals of the situation prior to the (Covid) pandemic, in particular to the reference year 2019.

To escalate the perceptions of professionals, the expectations, but also their fears, Regiondo, the first solution for booking visits and activities, interviewed more than 140 industry professionals to better understand their impressions for 2023, the challenges they expect to face, and how they plan to overcome them. The study, the results of which have been summarized with the help of practical computer graphics, has been designed in such a way as to describe the trends that will shape the future of the travel sector, while analyzing the current socio-economic scenario in depth. Fortunately, r ight from the outset, the results of the study specify that no respondent to the survey “expressed negative feelings or bad feelings in relation to the year 2023”. As proof, 75% of respondents feel at least “rather optimistic, despite the steep challenges they expect to face during th e year”.

In the opinion of Regiondo’s Founder and CEO, “even though the tourism industry is still struggling to regain its 2019 momentum, the pandemic now seems to be behind us. All the information we have indicates that 2023 will be a prosperous year for the tours and activities segment, with France benefiting from renewed exponentially growing consumer enthusiasm”. More nuanced, the conclusions of the study say that “even though 44% of the panel think that the Covid pandemic will still have an impact on tourism in 2023, it is no longer considered to be the main challenge for the current year… The biggest fears are now inflation (43%) and recruitment 28% ”.

Overall, the survey shows “a feeling of generalized optimism”, but at the same time, the tourism industry seems determined to tackle other more current and pressing challenges, including inflation, digitization, and even sustainability. At the start of this spring season, optimism remains in order. Nonetheless, professionals fear “a greater impact of inflation” in the months to come and especially on the eve of the summer season. Even if 47% of respondents to the study qualify inflationary pressure as a kind of temporary problem, the fact remains that 7% of respondents believe that tourists could cancel their trips… Despite this trend, experts predict a sharp increase in “last minute” bookings.

Amin RBOUB