The inaugural Accor Northern Europe Travel Trends Report looks at how Covid has changed our behaviour and how this will influence the way we travel, live, work and play in 2022 and beyond.

A new research study by Accor, a world leading hospitality group, reveals optimism about the return of travel in 2022 with travellers intending to spend an average of 39% more on travel in 2022 than they did in 2019 and to take an average of 4 trips this year.

The study asked 6,000 people across five countries - UK, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Russia - about their travel preferences and desires. The results were highly positive and indicate travellers value travel and vacation time more than ever.

Despite recent setbacks with the Delta and Omicron variants, more than 80% plan to travel in 2022. They want to travel a lot and after two years of restrictions, they want to spend significant sums.

The research study forms part of an in-depth Northern Europe Travel Trends Report published by Accor examining how changes in behaviour post-Covid will change the way we travel, live, work and play in 2022 and beyond.

The desire for fly and flop has been heightened as beach holidays top the wish list for travel in 2022 with 33% of respondents planning sun and sand getaways. City breaks (26%) are expected to come back as the call of cosmopolitan culture returns. The rewilding of mindful travel continues, heighten by Omicron.

Research pre Omicron indicated one in five (20%) sought country escapes, but the recent pandemic surge resulted in an increased desire for nature, with 30% of travellers seeking holidays in nature in 2022. Omicron has doubled our desire to explore our own country – at the end of 2021 just 14% of travellers were planning staycations and at the start of 2022 that number has doubled to 28%.

Overall 25% of respondents are more likely to staycation as a result of Omicron. After two challenging years, 14% of Europeans are planning all-out luxury, the trip of a lifetime to make up for all the lost travel in the pandemic years.

Italy has been identified as the number one destination for travellers from Europe.

Furthermore, 55% of those surveyed intend to keep their travels within Europe, and of those willing to explore beyond the continent, 13% are planning trips to North America and 11% to Southeast Asia.

30% of people are actively planning and booking trips for the first half of the year, 50% for the second half of the year and nearly one in five (17%) are booking trips for 2023 already.

Whilst the appetite for travel is clearly strong, the study also shows what travellers expect to change with 1 in 5 (22%) saying their travelling priorities will be different post pandemic. Booking flexibility and high sanitary standards topped the list of what Europeans expect as a “must have” in 2022 and beyond. 31% want clearer health and safety standards and 1 in 5 (19%) would be willing to pay more for a hotel room if it had a recognised cleanliness initiative award, such as Accor’s global ALLSAFE health and sanitary label.

30% seek more flexibility on changes to bookings. Technology will also play a significant role in offering a more contact-light travel experience, with 23% of European travellers expecting more contactless payment options and 17% wanting an increase in hotel technology from WhatsApp customer service to improvements in hotel room TVs.

People want to travel, they also want to be safe and are now adjusting to the fact that the two can co-exist. Given the uncertainty of the last few months, reassurance, both in safety and flexibility, is a must for travel in 2022 and beyond.

To download the report in full here