The travel industry has learned an epidemic lesson in customer demand.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that travel leaders have learned their lessons from the pandemic. That looks like covid-19 is punishing and an entire industry needs to go down a notch. That is far from the truth.

I’d say all industries have learned a lesson — many lessons, actually — about how to operate their own business models and, for some, reinvent themselves after a natural disaster.

The best word to describe the situation is that the travel sector has been punished by the pandemic. They were forced to re-examine how they went to market, how they treated their customers, and how important travel is to all of our lives. As we all rush back to airports, cruise terminals to board, train tracks, etc., it’s something many are starting to see up close.

When you take something from someone, it makes them appreciate it more, and this is true not only for travel customers like us, but also for travel leaders like airline CEOs, hoteliers, restaurant owners, car rental agencies, and more.

I see it with a slight touch.

I saw that Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian decided to send an empty charter plane to England to retrieve their customers’ lost luggage due to a loading problem at Heathrow Airport. This bit of history was a line thrown out by Bastian during Delta’s conference call last week, but I suspect it’s a big deal for the thousand-plus bag owners in attendance.

As of July 27th, I saw Walt Disney World’s announcement of the new MagicBand+. Yes, yes, I’m aware of the criticism of WDW, especially this year, but this next-generation product is just about simplifying—yet improving—the park-going experience.

I haven’t been to DC World in nine years. It’s a big place. Anything that makes my next visit much easier and more enjoyable is fine by me.

And I’ve seen it in an ongoing pilot program by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). At some select airports, you no longer need to scan a paper boarding pass or QR code to open your phone display and go through security.

TSA is implementing Authentication Verification Technology (CAT) to create a more digital process.

I get it – all three examples I mentioned don’t seem like much. Even collectively. But this is where the transformation of the journey begins. This is how things move forward.

This is how it comes to the growth of the industry.

I don’t know if travel will be a breeze. Probably not. But if anything comes out of the pandemic, at least the industry’s willingness to try new things is positive.