Infographics like this one from Statista might sound foreboding since they imply that interest in international travel will drop after the COVID-19 crisis. But ….meh… there have been MANY such ups and downs over the years. Our theory is that it will rebound. What’s your opinion? See the whole graphic at https://brigada.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/statista-international_travel_drop.jpeg.
3) We’re Not Scared of This Drop in International Travel Interest. You?
Here’s my take on How COVID-19 will affect missions. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a57c6678fd4d21c8fc7e568/t/5e7b6eef22c668298966f8e6/1585147631955/COVID_19+%26+Missions.pdf
There’s inadequate data to draw a conclusion. Not least we’re not told over what period the predictions are anticipated. And who cares anyway? Possibly airlines, hotels etc. This isn’t a survey amongst missions staff so it tells us nothing about the future for mission activity. Perhaps it is time for less travel from the North to the global South and time for the travel to come the opposite direction.
Trying to stay positive about international travel, so my takeaway is that 63% of the respondents will either keep the amount of international travel the same or will increase it in 2020! The question would be, however, were these respondents travelers who would be traveling for business, leisure or for humanitarian reasons?
In my opinion, we should always be students of the culture we are creating partnerships for. As cross-cultural workers, if we are still in the ministry of creating partnerships between 2 different cultures, we need to care about how each culture feels about aspects of the partnership (example: international travel) and help them evaluate their feelings in relationship to that partnership with Biblical thinking. I always care about the culture I am trying to impact with Biblical thinking (and our Biblical mandate is to “Go.”) Only God knows, how far that “Go” will mean in the near future, especially if countries limit access to each other’s citizens. So let’s care how people feel about this, and help them through it.