Last Easter marked the month that many European destinations entered their first national lockdown to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The last ‘normal’ tourism year in 2019 saw over two billion global domestic and international trips take place in March and April combined. Two years on, COVID-19 restrictions are still in place, limiting any form of travel and preventing families from coming together to celebrate this key event on the social calendar.

In December 2020, a *GlobalData’s survey found that 87% of global respondents were concerned about restrictions on socializing – with 24% noted to be ‘extremely’ concerned and 63% being ‘quite’ or ‘slightly’ concerned. With yet another holiday restricted, the data and analytics company expects there to be a huge pent-up demand for summer travel.

Johanna Bonhill-Smith, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Easter typically marks the first annual holiday of the year for many people worldwide. One common factor in global Easter traditions is that Easter is typically a time at which families congregate and spend time together. With COVID-19 social distancing measures and household restrictions still in place, these celebrations will be severely limited, and this is likely to stimulate demand for quality family time in future travel plans”.

“Easter has not been the only national celebration that people worldwide have missed out on due to COVID-19 – Christmas was likely a more restricted affair and many birthdays, anniversaries and general celebrations are likely to have been sacrificed. Losing out on various celebrations will likely urge individuals to make up for this when they can – with summer next up in everyone’s hopes.”  

Feeling ‘hopeful’ was the most common emotion felt by global respondents in *GlobalData’s survey in December 2020. The rollout of vaccinations worldwide was spinning a positive outlook for the tourism sector and international travel. The success of summer travel in 2021 depends on the rate of vaccinations and restrictions in each country.