According to information collected by Sensor Tower, the demand for travel apps in 2022 is extremely high and can only be compared with 2019. Based on the statistics on the time spent on such applications and the number of their installations between the beginning of 2019 and May of the current year, we can conclude that already in the second quarter, the number of downloads will be more than 130 million, which is 56% higher than the average in the previous years.
So, we can predict a stable growth in travel. Recall that the previous decline since 2020 was primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The traffic light travel system in the UK has clearly shown trends toward the decline of tourism. For example, the official application of British Airways downloads fell by 15% in 2021. However, the pandemic has affected some airlines in a positive way. United and American Airlines were in high demand compared to pre-pandemic times.
As the story of COVID-19 slowly fades as this year begins, the tourism and travel industry are spreading their wings. Transit apps in this regard are also beginning to gradually recover. France has followed a trend of record-high growth in usage with MAUs. This amounts to about 2.7 million in mid-spring 2022, which is comparable with a 59% increase compared to 1.7 million in 2019.
Equally promising are the statistics on travel app usage for countries such as Italy and Germany. At the same time, the UK is clearly underperforming, which is rather strange given the fact that most British people work remotely.
Do you think there is a direct correlation between the decline of the pandemic and the rise in the popularity of travel apps? Are you planning to travel somewhere this year? Please share your opinion below.