kochi the covid19 pandemic has given birth to ethical travellers who are not just bothered about personal leisure but also about the place they visit and its people it is this steadily growing travel group that the tourism industry will have to cater to in the future said experts at kerala travel mart ktm in kochi travel experts at the ktm said that travel has completely changed in the last two years and now emphasis is more on safety and sanitation with people preferring short trips to destinations closer to home rather than exotic locationslast two years have taught us that nothing can last forever people have suffered lost a close family member due to the pandemic and people want to be connected to other people this has given birth to ethical travellers said additional chief secretary venu v an ethical traveller is a combination of uber travellers junkie traveller and vanity driven travellers who are trendsetters and dont mind spendingthey are looking for experience and want to be connected with the place they visit that is where achieving sustainable development goals and responsible tourism is key said amit sharma vicepresident abercrombie kent who was attending the ktm meetthere is also a surge of anxious travellers who need lots of confirmation reassurances and advice this will lead to demand for tour operators whom we thought were endangered as the anxious traveller will prefer more personalised and customised trips rather than group tours said venuexplaining how a tourists perspective and need is changing samir m c managing director itc fortune hotels welcome heritage said that in the postpandemic world everyone wants to stay connected with friends and family and take trips with them people value life and dont want to restrict themselves to the rat race they want a worklife balance this has led to preference for short trips with a small group rather than long tours with larger groups said samirsafety and hygiene is key for every traveller also now tourists are asking for responsible tourism added samir