Traveling Before, During, and After the Pandemic: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Travel Behavior and Travel Medicine Practice

Abstract

Objective: The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic severely compromised international travel and the practice of travel medicine. This study aimed to investigate the evolution of traveler behaviors and prophylactic prescriptions across the pandemic and post-pandemic periods. Population and methods: A retrospective study was conducted on travelers attending the International Vaccination Center in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, from August 2019 to May 2023, where data were collected on travelers’ demographics, destination, duration, reasons for traveling, and data regarding travel-related vaccines and malaria prophylaxis. Travelers’ characteristics were compared between Period A (pre-pandemic), Period B (pandemic), and Period C (post-pandemic). Results: The study included 1,711 travelers in the analysis. During the pandemic period, there were fewer travelers for tourism (5% decrease) and an increase in travelers for emigration and work (4.8% increase). There was also an increase in trips lasting less than two weeks among tourists, as well as trips lasting more than one month, primarily among travelers for work or emigration. During the pandemic, there was a significant decrease in Asia as a destination, with a shift toward African countries, which partially reverted in the post-pandemic period. Significant decreases in the prescriptions of vaccines were found during the pandemic and continued in the post-pandemic period. Conclusion: There was a change in travelers' characteristics due to the pandemic, with a shift to shorter trips for tourism, an avoidance of Asia, and a preference for sub-Saharan African countries as a main hub of destination. Some vaccine prescription practices remained low and even decreased during or after the pandemic.