Harris KhanShon Alam, founder of foreign exchange service Bidwedge, provides insight into how the travel sector has been given a lifeline.
A new vaccine that protects against Covid-19 is 94.5% effective, early data from US company Moderna shows. The results follow similar results from the American pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, and add to growing confidence that vaccines can help end the pandemic. One sector in particular that is reliant on the development of a reliable vaccine is travel and tourism.
The travel sector greeted the Pfizer announcement with glee, as investors responded, boosting share prices of TripAdvisor up by 21% last week, while stock prices of airlines soared, with EasyJet up 30%, and IAG (owner of British Airways) up by 38.75%. With a second vaccine now providing efficacy of over 90%, hopes for a reopening of the travel sector will have been raised. With tourists keeping a keen eye on these developments, consumers will be chomping at the bit to make up for lost time and book themselves onto international holidays.
In response to the Moderna vaccine, founder of currency exchange platform Bidwegde, Shon Alam, has commented on what this means for the travel industry and how consumers can take advantage of the announcement.
“The announcement this lunchtime provides an almighty boost to the travel sector. The Pfizer announcement last week provided a glimmer of hope to business in the travel space. To have a second potential vaccine with an efficacy of over 90%, however, is a totally different ball game. This provides people with the clarity they need to realise that the end of this pandemic is firmly in sight. These types of announcements provide much needed stability to the industry, and hopefully, we’ll be able to confine 2020 to the history books.
Consumers too will also look to announcements like this and begin to believe that they are able to freely travel and holiday once again. For those consumers looking to book any holidays in 2021 and 2022, would be wise to start buying up their foreign currency now before the value of foreign currency increases massively again. Next year, there will be a mad dash for Euros and Dollars, so British holidaymakers would be best placed to get ahead of the game.
As Covid hit the travel sector hard, new alternative and transparent providers have grown out of the ashes, and now consumers have services, such as Bidwedge, to find incredible rates on swapping currencies, making their next holiday that bit sweeter.”
