Singaporeans find planning post-pandemic trips stressful

A recent survey by Expedia showed that Singapore travellers are hesitant about hitting the road again, with majority having put off booking holidays abroad due to stress associated with post-pandemic travels.

According to Expedia’s Travel Companions Report, which surveyed 2,000 adult respondents in Singapore last month, half of Singaporeans (50 per cent) feel stressed about booking their next international trip. In fact, 71 per cent have put off hitting “book” at least once as they felt overwhelmed while planning their next trip, and estimate that they need over nine hours to plan a trip.

Half of Singaporeans feel stressed at the thought of booking their next big trip: Expedia survey

When it comes to getting back out there, travellers noted the need to know everything about Covid-19-related travel procedures, tests and clearances all in one place as a priority (63 per cent), followed by having access to all travel-related information, including restrictions, guidelines, and processes for each country in a single place (56 per cent); having all final costs of their booking shown upfront rather than at check-out (54 per cent); and having support with booking-related questions including cancelling or amending their trips (45 per cent).

The majority of Singaporeans (83 per cent) agree that, even before the pandemic, they were grateful for their holiday “helping hands” – the travel companions that guided them to create the best trip possible. When asked which helping hands they missed most, respondents in Singapore rank their go-to travel app the highest (57 per cent), followed by their tour guide (39 per cent), hotel staff (38 per cent) and their travel agency (35 per cent).

To support travellers in their holiday booking process, Expedia has introduced new features designed to be the ultimate travel companion.

These include the new Covid-19 Travel Advisory tool which helps travellers search for travel advisories around the world, including regulations for destinations, and safety and health guidelines.

As well, new Virtual Agent capabilities allow travellers to view their bookings, check their refund status, ask about hotel amenities or cancel/amend parts of their trips with ease.

Customers will also receive more Expedia Rewards points on app bookings, which can be redeemed on future trips. Plus, premium Expedia Rewards customers booking VIP Access hotels can benefit from room upgrades, spa credits and late check-out.

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