Recently I’ve read quite a few Lonely Planet articles about how travel is likely to change and they confirm what I think and what I read already, including the India Times article I’ve already written about.

Lonely Planet predicts that travel will mainly stay local due to virus fears or people will travel to neighboring countries. They will fear getting stuck far from their homes if suddenly there’s a new outbreak, so they will choose to stay close to home. My mother is already following this trend – she booked a trip within England where she resides.

Travel will also get more uncomfortable, as people will have to wear masks in public places at all times, be it in airports or on airplanes. It’s hard for me to understand how people think this can protect them from anything; they can wear the thickest masks they want, but they still breathe the same air as all the other passengers!

The travel website also predicts that travel cost will increase next year as companies will not be able to always keep their fares low to attract people to travel again. Also, because of large space requirements due to social distancing, planes and buses may carry fewer people so the cost will of course increase.

The elite has gripped the population tight with this virus. Whether there is such virus or not, for sure it is used to take our rights away. And people happily comply. Humanity will be afraid to travel – anytime there could be an outbreak and the sealing of the location.

Even going out is uncomfortable now – you have to wear a mask. It’s been made mandatory here in Nepal too, though I don’t wear it. I also choose to shop in places where the mask isn’t required.

It’s even uncomfortable to walk in your neighborhood be it because of the mask that you wear or if you don’t wear one, because of uncomfortable reactions from others. And once you travel, there will be so many more inconveniences to go through, like temperature checks, social distancing, being up to date with the virus situation of a particular location. People will stay at home to avoid all this hassle.

Of course, this is what’s desired by the controllers. They want people to stay at home and to be glued to their computer or mobile screens. That’s why travel websites including Lonely Planet also encourage “virtual tours” of the most beautiful places of the world and “live wildlife webcams”. To avoid all the hassle, people will simply stay at home watching their favorite locations on their screens.

And those who do decide to travel are likely to be faced with big changes in the tourism industry which I will list now.

Social distancing will apply if you use gyms and pools of hotels. You may need to book a time slot for the pool or gym to avoid overcrowding. Gym equipment will be wiped every time you use it. This will keep reinforcing how contagious you and other persons are.

Water in public pools will be more chlorinated than it already is to kill the virus. So that means I will probably never touch pool water again.

Hotel check-ins may be done automatically. You book the room, arrive at the hotel and the reception has no people at all – only machines. You enter your details and probably insert a card you made the payment with and the key to the room is dispensed.

Robots may clean rooms in luxury hotels. After rooms have been cleaned they will be sealed and the label will be put on the door assuring that no human had entered the room before the arrival of the guest. Again, this is done to reinforce the idea that people are contagious.

Breakfast buffets will be a thing of the past. That was something I really loved; it gives a chance to get to know other hotel guests and the atmosphere is often so uplifting. I remember the last time I was in Sri Lanka I was invited to a luxury hotel buffet breakfast and it was such a wonderful experience, seeing so many people enjoying their breakfast and being able to sit anywhere you like and watch the ocean. Yet this is likely to be a thing of the past.

It’s likely that your temperature will be measured before you enter the room. This may be done by machines.

In other words, travel will become a hassle and a cold experience. It’s likely that once you get to the new location, locals will view you with suspicion – as a potential virus carrier. Due to less hospitality, less humanity, more trouble and uncertainly most people will simply choose to travel locally or they will not travel at all.

I surely hope this prediction will not come true but seeing how easily people are led, that’s exactly the scenario this blind compliance is going to produce.