inconvenience ’ if it means loyal employees are kept in work and readily preparing for an upturn . In fact , 81 % of businesses saw a downturn in revenue compared to 2020 although the reductions were much less severe than the 2019-2020 downturn . The first year of the pandemic witnessed 45 % of businesses record a gross annual revenue below US $ 50,000 , this had improved to 30 % for calendar year 2021 .
Often overused , ‘ pivot ’ became the catch word of the pandemic yet in many regards it was tourism and travel that epitomised the term . Adventure travel operators responded to the pandemic by modifying or creating new products , reducing business capacity , liquidating assets , and customising offerings
“ We receive bookings from Russians every day ,” stated Alex Nikonov from Rusmoto Travel midway through last year . “ Economically tours are less interesting than what we do with international customers , very low margin , still it helps us cover operating expenses , pay salaries , garage rent , administrative costs , etc .”
Rusmoto Travel were at the forefront of ‘ pivoting ’, adapting to the new way of doing things , ensuring that their Russian based business survived the pandemic . It ’ s an attitude that has seen them well during continued trying times with sanctions placed against the people of Russia in response to the Ukraine situation .
How the industry responds to ongoing threats from Covid has also been interesting . Travel Insurance companies were the first to act implementing ‘ new ’ policies to cover the occurrence of the virus however , the changes required by many travel and tourism operators were the most significant . The industry saw cancellation policies adapted or complete overhauled . Almost 80 % of the industry suggested that completely changed their policies whilst 20 % adapted what they already had .
Local economies , often the hardest hit during the early stages of restricted travel , locks downs and mandates , has perhaps seen the greatest divergence from the pre- 2020 course . Whilst non-motorcycle tourism has seen an average of US $ 2900 spent on 8 nights of travel across the past 12 months , it ’ s known that 70 % of this is directed at local or community economies , a similar percentage believed to be generated from the motorcycle tourism industry .
New experiences , off the beaten track , and to live like a local are sighted as the greatest motivations for travellers during the latter half of 2021 and early 2022 . Motorcycle tourism has seen international numbers increase in many markets ; locals no longer want to be restricted to ‘ what they know ’.
Mainstream adventure travel has seen the most soughtafter destinations being the Mediterranean , Western Europe , Scandinavia , the Caribbean , and the United States
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