April 28 - Tour operators feel confident business will begin to recover in the fall of 2020, according to a survey.

A study, via booking and payment platform WeTravel, shows tour operators have a third of trips rescheduled for some time between June and September and 40% say they are putting tours off until the final quarter of the year.

The remainder say they are postponing all trips until 2021 and keeping a close watch on the ongoing market conditions.

Most tour operators are more upbeat about business in 2021, with the survey indicating a third are positive, 26% have a fair outlook and 21% remain unsure.

In response to how long it will take for the industry to recover, 44% say between six to 12 months.

Like other segments of the travel industry, tour operators expect a significant decline in revenue during 2020 as more than half are forecasting a drop of at least 50% year-over-year.

Just a fifth (21%) say they are still unsure about the full impact of COVID-19 on revenue for the year, but 10% of respondents anticipate it could be a crash of more than 90%.

With funds often tied up with vendors, about half of tour operators say they have fully refunded travelers and 27% are waiting for refunds from their vendor partners.

The study says that only 39% of vendors are providing full refunds to tour operators and 11% are not willing to refund or reschedule at all.

WeTravel surveyed 592 specialist tour operators in early-April. Most participants (59%) specialize in multi-day tours. In addition, almost 90% of respondents have 20 employees or less.

 

 

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