Tour Guides and Museums See a Healthy Rebound in Places That Have Eased Restrictions
Skift Take
The recovery for sightseeing, attractions, and experiences is still in early stages in Europe and North America. But it is happening faster than expected in some segments and countries.
Several signs point to a modest but meaningful recovery in bookings for sightseeing and activities and in ticket sales for museums and attractions. Some operators are adopting new technologies to try to maximize the rebound as governments ease travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
In European countries that have eased restrictions, domestic tourism is rising.
Online bookings for tour and activity operators in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in May were only 15 percent down from the level of May 2019, said Bookingkit, a significant provider of reservations software for operators in those countries. European operators are rebounding from minimal bookings in April.
Iceland is leading the way in recovery, with notable rebounds in Ireland, New Zealand, and Latvia, according to booking data from Bókun, a provider of booking management software that's owned by Tripadvisor. Weekly online experience bookings via Bókun tripled last week, compared to last month.
"In Switzerland, for example, some of the glacier look-out points on mountains are seeing level equal to previous years," said Olan O'Sullivan, CEO at Trekksoft, a maker of booking software.
Operators primarily in Switzerland and Norway, for example, have seen online bookings rise 56 percent
