This was published 2 years ago
What is a revenge traveller and are you one of them?
By Lee Tulloch
Time for many to spend up big on a holiday.Credit: iStock
I've heard the expression "revenge travel" a lot lately. Apparently, some of us are already doing it.
But what on earth does it mean?
The dictionary meaning of revenge is to "inflict hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrong done to oneself". It's not a sentiment that immediately springs to mind when we think about going on holiday.
And yet, revenge travel - whatever it is - is one of the things the worldwide tourism industry is banking on to reverse its fortunes.
We know that pandemic has been bad, very bad for tourism. Two years of crippling travel restrictions have led to a loss of 62 million jobs, with half of those, 34 million, in the Asia Pacific.
Conversely, it has been very good for some people's bank accounts. There's an estimated $2.7 trillion in savings amassed since 2020, stashed away in banks in Europe and the US.
According to trend analysts - the experts who coin phrases like "revenge travel" – there's a significant group of travellers out there who have an intense, pent-up desire to make up for time lost to the pandemic and who have plenty of money burning holes their pockets. As restrictions lift, the industry is hoping that these travellers will take to the skies, rail and roads in massive numbers, spending those savings with a vengeance. Enter the revenge travellers.
The concept of revenge travel has its origins in the "revenge spending" of the Chinese middle classes after the country opened up its economy in the 1980s. Suddenly allowed access to luxury goods, the Chinese consumer emerged, developing a voracity for brands like Vuitton and Dior that was unmatched anywhere in the world. After generations of poverty, they were making up for decades of lost time, hence the word "revenge".
Reliably, after the first lockdowns ended in China in 2020, well-to-do consumers once more went on a gargantuan shopping spree that temporarily boosted the fortunes of fashion labels like Hermes and Burberry.
The revenge instinct this time was spurred by anger at the harsh quarantine rules that kept them at home and out of their favourite places of recreation - shopping malls.
Last year when lockdown was lifted in India, a tide of newly liberated travellers flooded the hotels of the Himalayan hill stations in a reaction to the monotony of life under curfew. These "revenge" tourists ignored the COVID protocols that had been place for months, causing concern that they'd ignite a third wave of COVID. Lockdown fatigue meant they'd succumbed to wishful thinking that the pandemic was over.
For frustrated travellers everywhere, there's an understandable rush to make up for lost time. Perhaps there's also a rush to make the going good while there's a window of opportunity, in case it narrows again. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's carpe diem.
As a nation of savers, Australians did well during the pandemic, stockpiling roughly $260 billion. In non-plague times they would have spent about $60 billion a year on trips.
Unable to travel, they splurged on home renovations, making the nest cosy while they were stuck inside. But now that the kitchens have been transformed and the granny flats have been turned into Airbnbs, the expectation is that much of this saving will flow back into travel (you can't get a tradie anyway – maybe they are all overseas).
An Expedia survey of 12,000 travellers bears this out. It found that people are not only desperate to get away, they're planning on splashing out on epic, big-ticket, once-in-a-lifetime adventures such as safaris, Nile cruises and trips to far-flung destinations such as Machu Picchu.
Four in 10 Australians intend to spend more on their next trip than they have in the past. With more disposable cash at their fingertips, many will be able to buy a better kind of holiday, affording upgrades, longer trips and multigenerational gatherings in exotic locations. Almost a third plan to tick off a bucket list destination this year.
But is this really driven by revenge?
The word suggests travellers are acting against something. Lockdowns? Cancellations? A sense of powerlessness when so much we took for granted was out of our control? Hopefully most of this is in the past.
I think that the trend forecasters got the wrong "R" word. It's not revenge but rebound. Or reward, for being stoic for two years. Or simply just relief, that we can travel again.
lee.tulloch@traveller.com.au
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