Five Years After: The Day the World Stopped Traveling

March 17th: A significant day, and not just because it’s the opening night of Skift India Forum here in Delhi. Five years ago, almost to the day, the travel industry came to a screeching halt.

On March 14, 2020, I wrote an essay titled “The Day the World Stopped Traveling” — an attempt to capture, in real time, the sheer magnitude of what was unfolding. I posted it on the 15th, and by the 17th, the world had changed in ways we couldn’t yet fully grasp. Countries locked down, borders slammed shut, airlines grounded, and an industry built on movement found itself frozen.

Our own office in New York shut down, never to return. We became a fully remote company, like so many others. And now, here in India, looking back at these five years, I find myself asking: What did we learn? What did we fail to learn? And what actually changed?

At the Skift India Forum, we’ll unpack these questions. The good, the bad, and the things that were supposed to change but didn’t. Because if there’s one thing about disruption, it’s that it either forces transformation or accelerates what was already in motion.

And in the case of travel? It was an acceleration.

The Industry Shifted, But Did It Evolve?

Even before Covid, the travel industry was deep into its digital transformation. Mobile bookings, automation, contactless everything — those trends were already gaining ground. The pandemic simply sped them up. But here’s the thing: not all acceleration is progress.

Take automation, for instance. Yes, it made travel more efficient, but at what cost? We automated away a lot of the human touch that made travel feel special. AI, as we now know it, wasn’t even in the conversation back then. Now, it’s reshaping everything — though, let’s be real, travel is still fundamentally human. You can’t AI your way into genuine hospitality.

Then there’s service standards, which took a nosedive during Covid and, at least in the West, never fully recovered. What started as a necessary measure — less daily housekeeping, fewer personal interactions — became the new normal, largely because it was more cost-effective. That’s the thing with cutting back: Once companies realize they can get away with less, they rarely go back to more.

And let’s talk about overtourism. It went from over- to under- during the pandemic, but it’s now back with a vengeance — only this time, we don’t hear the term as much. Funny, considering we at Skift coined it back in 2016. I argued last year that we should retire the word because it had become a blunt instrument, a way to blame tourists rather than address the real issue: poor destination management. But make no mistake, overtourism is worse than ever.

The New (and Not-So-New) Challenges

Economically, airlines and hotels have had record-breaking years, yet there’s a lingering fear of a downturn. Part of that fear is economic nationalism — tightening borders, stricter visa policies, immigration restrictions. While leisure travel has roared back, long-term mobility — people relocating, migrating — has become much harder. That’s the paradox: More people traveling than ever, but fewer moving across borders in meaningful ways.

Then there’s sustainability. Awareness has grown, but let’s be honest: People still don’t want to pay extra for sustainable choices. Survey after survey says travelers care about sustainability, but when it comes to actual spending? The numbers don’t add up. That’s why we started a dedicated climate vertical at Skift this year, because there’s still so much untapped potential in climate tech for travel.

And while we’re on the topic of things getting worse — religious nationalism, rising pollution in places like India, increasing safety concerns for women travelers — there’s no sugarcoating that some aspects of travel are more challenging now than pre-pandemic.

The Silver Linings

Not everything is bleak. Alternative media voices have risen. Direct channels — email, newsletters, Substack — are thriving, giving destinations and brands more ways to reach travelers without relying on Facebook’s ever-changing algorithms. Podcasts, YouTube, and Instagram have stepped in as dominant platforms, especially in markets like India where TikTok is banned.

And one thing has been proven a hundred times over: People will always want to travel.

No matter what.

At the height of the pandemic, I published 100+ questions for the travel industry — questions we needed to answer in a post-Covid world. Most of them? Either ignored, outdated, or made irrelevant by the sheer resilience of human curiosity.

Because at its core, travel is the most aspirational expression of being human.

As soon as people have the means, they want to see the world. That has never changed, and it never will.

Looking Ahead

I consider myself a technology maximalist — not an early adopter, but a believer that tech will solve many of our biggest challenges if used with the right intentions. Whether it’s better fuel efficiency in aviation, smarter resource use in hotels, or AI-powered live translation breaking down language barriers, technology will continue to shape the future of travel.

But it can’t replace the essence of it.

So here we are, five years after the day the world stopped traveling. Tonight, we gather in Delhi, tomorrow in Gurgaon, and beyond that? We keep moving forward.

Here’s to hoping 2025 surprises us in ways we’re not expecting—hopefully for the better.

See you out there.