The Fall of Travel in 2020 in a Single GIF

It comes as no surprise that travel's performance has fallen, but it is still shocking to see how deep the trough was.

The Skift Recovery Index has been tracking the performance of the travel industry, by working with 18 data partners to measure how current performance compares to 2019.

The index tracks 49 indicators for 22 countries, measuring each week how the air, lodging, and car rental sectors are performing in terms of searches, bookings, occupancies, and revenues. By weighting the different indicators, it provides a single indexed figure that represents the health of the total travel industry in each country.

A few key takeaways from the data:

• • China dropped first, quickly followed by other APAC countries. Domestic travel has boosted China's performance, but other APAC countries continue to score low due to some of the strictest border restrictions.
  • European countries showed decent performance during the summer months, outperforming other regions. However, over the past weeks, performance has dropped as Covid cases increased in most countries.
  • Russia has been the strongest performer since mid-June, scoring over 70% of 2019-level performance, but it has also seen a drop in performance in the past weeks. In Russia, also, Covid cases are rising.
  • Mexico and the U.S. are benefiting from continued travel demand by U.S. residents. Since early July, both show a relatively stable 40-50 percent performance.