One in four consumers are still holding back from booking international travel for fear of catching Covid, the new data from PwC – released at the event in Morocco – has revealed.

Flight disruptions are currently the biggest deterrent to international travel, with 41% of consumers saying they were still concerned over airlines cancelling flights – despite the situation improving since the late spring.

Presenting the findings, Eleanor Scott, travel director, Strategy& at PwC, said the research carried out in September showed travellers had so far shown themselves more willing to return to domestic than to international travel. “Domestically most people are now happy to travel with 60% having done so and 24% happy to consider travel,” she said.

“But there is still some room for the international market to come back post-Covid, with only 69% having returned to foreign travel or saying they would be happy to do so.”

Overall, both Scott and Rick Jones, head of travel and leisure at PwC, were positive about the outlook for travel, highlighting that most consumers reported that they their current economic situation would not deter them from booking holidays.

Jones said travel was still very attractive both to consumers and to investors. “Travel is still a very attractive space, due to the rise of the middle class globally and the rise of the grey pound,” he said.

“The short term and long term factors are appealing both for consumers and investors. Previous downturns have shown that when things bounce back they bounce back very quickly – there is always a sudden pick up from the nadir and travel companies need to be ready for that.”

A straw poll of the travel executives in the room showed 70% of them expected revenues to be higher in 2023 than in 2022 – while 83% were confident that consumer sentiment would come back quickly.