– This post was written by Lauren Voges –
Remember when you used to go to bars and restaurants and cafés? When going to a museum or a tourist attraction was your Saturday afternoon activity, instead of a virtual museum tour? Remember when you used to plan weekends away and scour the internet for cheap flight deals for a sneaky city break, instead of adding travel shows to your Netflix queue? Those were the days, weren’t they? But it looks like life after lockdown – and after coronavirus – is going to take a little while to get back to something more familiar.
In early May, Tiqets conducted several surveys with over 200 Tiqets customers and followers. We asked you what you missed most in lockdown (the resounding answer: travel), what sort of virtual activities you were trying out (which were mainly virtual museum tours and online gym classes), and we asked you how you felt about traveling again. While many of you miss traveling the most (us too!), it’s also the thing you’ll be most cautious about getting back to.
Are we ready to travel in a post-pandemic world?
The short answer: not yet – especially seeing as the pandemic isn’t over. While many people have had to cancel a trip because of the coronavirus outbreak (73% of survey respondents said that they had to cancel trips/holidays), they’re not quite ready to pick up where they left off.
Only 23% of survey respondents said they would want to start traveling again as soon as lockdown in their respective countries is lifted.
32% of respondents said their travel decisions would be informed by when lockdowns in other countries are lifted.
17% of respondents said they would wait 1-2 months after lockdown to start traveling.
14% of respondents said they would wait 3-6 months before traveling again.
12% of respondents answered that they hadn’t really thought about when they would be ready to start traveling again.
But while it looks as though many of you won’t be ready to travel in the immediate future, there’s no shortage of enthusiasm for the activity. When asked which popular cities they’d like to visit first and which iconic attractions they’d like to see first, respondents were quick to share their preferences.
So, life after lockdown may not immediately include travel, but there’s no doubt it will return. In the meantime, industry-wide predictions suggest that many of us will turn to weekends away in remote places, road trips, and local adventures to soothe our wanderlust-seeking hearts.
Are we ready to visit local museums and attractions?
Speaking of local adventures, who says you need to travel anywhere to be a tourist? Exploring your city, and its attractions and landmarks can be just as exciting as visiting a new destination. So how ready are you to visit local attractions? Our survey on when people will return to museums and attractions, and what they’ll expect from these venues after coronavirus, provided some interesting insights.
When asked how they feel about the reopening of museums and attractions, respondents were hesitant.
35% of respondents said they couldn’t wait to visit, while 65% answered that they would wait a while before returning.
18% of respondents would be ready to visit museums as soon as the doors opened.
23% said they would wait 1-2 weeks before visiting museums.
24% would prefer to wait 1-2 months before visiting museums.
35% said they’d wait 3-6 months before visiting museums and attractions again.
Do you find yourself worried about hygiene and safety measures at museums and tourist attractions? Our survey respondents surely were.
65% of survey respondents thought it should be the visitors’ responsibility to bring their own face masks, hand sanitizer, and gloves when attending a museum.
80% of survey respondents believed that museums and attractions should provide information about their safety measures on their websites.
54% of survey respondents felt that the venues should take care of safety measures like crowd control and keeping a safe distance and that they should be responsible for enforcing the rules that they have in place.
Hygiene and safety measures are high up on the priority lists of museums and attractions that are reopening – especially seeing as many governments are enforcing capacity restrictions and insisting on certain hygiene rules. If these are your main concerns about visiting museums and attractions, you can rest assured that the tourism industry is doing a whole lot to make sure you feel comfortable on your next visit.
Tips for visiting museums and attractions after lockdown
While some of you may feel daring enough to board a plane the moment you’re allowed out the house for more than your weekly grocery run, the truth is you simply may not be able to do so. Many countries are allowing things to open up within their borders, but they’re not necessarily reopening their borders to other countries.
This means that exploring your own city or planning a road trip or weekend break to a nearby place may be the best option for travel and culture lovers for the foreseeable future. And if that’s the case, you’ll need to know how to visit that iconic landmark that you live around the corner from (and are embarrassed to admit you’ve never visited).
Channel your inner Lady Macbeth and wash those hands regularly
Good hygiene remains one of the best ways to combat the spread of coronavirus. The staff at museums and attractions can insist on visitors wearing gloves and face masks, and provide hand sanitizer, but it’s your responsibility to use hand sanitizer and use it regularly.
Get precious about your personal space – and respect others’
Those of you who like your personal space will be pleased to know that this is an important part of the post-pandemic world. Don’t be afraid to remind others to keep their distance and remember to be respectful of other people’s personal space. That’s right, you’ll have to wait your turn to gawp at your favorite painting; no nudging the person in front of you out the way, and definitely no coughing or throat clearing to get their attention – you may get yourself kicked out of the museum!
Spontaneity is so 2019 – get with the times and start booking ahead
Capacity restrictions are coming. To avoid the disappointment of arriving at a museum or attraction only to be told they’re at capacity for the day, book your tickets to visit in advance. If you book through Tiqets, it’s easy to get tickets for the date and even a specific timeslot in advance. Nervous about booking in advance and suffering a change of heart the day before? No worries – when you book through Tiqets, you can cancel or change your tickets up until 24 hours before your visit.
