09/24/2021
Update 9/24/21: Ohio's Travel Industry and the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
TRAVEL PLANS CONTINUE TO SHIFT DUE TO PANDEMIC CONCERNS, MORE THAN A THIRD STILL PLANNING TO TRAVEL THIS CALENDAR YEAR, CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPECTATIONS REMAIN
Key findings from Longwoods International fielded Sept. 15, 2021:
- Most American travelers have plans to travel in the next six months (89%), dropping only one percentage report in the last two weeks.
- The pandemic is altering these travel plans for 54% of travelers, while concern over personal finances (48%) and transportation costs (48%) are also factors.
- While 25% say the pandemic is not influencing their planning, 32% are choosing drive destinations over flying, 30% are traveling domestically versus internationally, 29% are reducing the number of trips they’ll take, 17% are choosing rural destinations, 10% are choosing not to travel at all and 8% are canceling pre-existing plans.
- More than a third (37%) are planning to travel this calendar year, an increase from 30% two weeks ago. Another 20% postponed fall trips to later, and 16% have shifted their plans to 2022.
- Most Americans (57%) feel safe dining in local restaurants and shopping in retail stores, but 20% are not in support of opening up their communities to outside visitors.
- Most travelers expect the same level of service or higher from businesses as they experienced pre-pandemic.
MOST TRAVELERS SUPPORT MASKING AND OTHER REGULATIONS TO KEEP THEM SAFE, OPEN TO TRAVEL INSPIRATION, FALL TRIPS SHIFTING TO LATER IN THE YEAR
Key findings from Destination Analysts fielded Sept. 15-17, 2021
- There’s a slight increase of optimism, with 24% of American travelers saying they feel the US has a degree of normalcy right now, up from 22% the week of Sept 6. Optimism increased to 30% from 24% the same time period, while pessimism dropped from 51% to 49%. This feeling is most prevalent Gen X travelers.
- Most Americans want to hear about travel ideas. Those open to travel inspiration grew to 65% from 58% in the last two weeks.
- More than 40% say COVID-19 impacts their ability to have meaningful travel experiences. Travelers report that safety concerns, restrictions, decisions to avoid travel, and anxiety levels later their experiences.
- Fall trips are being postponed to later in the year, as those travelers with planned fall trips dropped from 28% to 10%, while plans to travel in December increased from 21% to 24%.
- Mask requirements are preferred by 68% of American travelers. Far more travelers support masking requirements than those who oppose it – in fact, the survey reports a 4 to 1 ratio.
- Nearly 60% of travelers support vaccine mandates, while 25% oppose. They feel even stronger when it comes to airline mandates, with 67% supporting airline vaccine or negative testing compared to 18% who oppose.
Travel Research Round-Up
This week's latest trends and traveler sentiments in a one-page research summary.