11/12/2021

Update 11/12/21: Ohio's Travel Industry and the Coronavirus (COVID-19)

OHIO THANKSGIVING TRAVEL TO REBOUND ALMOST TO PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS

Key findings from AAA published Nov. 9, 2021

• AAA predicts 53.4 million Americans (nearly 2.2 million Ohioans) will travel between Nov. 24 and Nov. 28 for Thanksgiving, up 13% from 2020.
• The This brings travel volumes within 5% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019 (6.5% in Ohio), and makes the fourth highest Thanksgiving travel volume on record.

• Airports will be busy this Thanksgiving. AAA expects air travel to almost completely recover from its dramatic fall during the pandemic, up 80% over last year (81.5% in Ohio). 

• Despite gas costing over a dollar more per gallon than this time last year, 90% of American travelers (89% of Ohio travelers) will drive to their destination this Thanksgiving.
• With 8.4% more Americans (7.5% more Ohioans) on the roads this Thanksgiving, motorists can expect more traffic congestion, especially heading into the holiday weekend. INRIX, in collaboration with AAA, predicts the heaviest traffic will occur Wednesday afternoon and evening as commuters leave work early and mix with holiday travelers. Sunday afternoon will also be busy on the roads as travelers return home.

MEDIAN INCOME OF CULTURAL ATTENDEES; ANOTHER REASON NOT TO JUDGE VISITORS BY APPEARANCE

Key findings from IMPACTS Experience released Nov. 10, 2021

• The average person who has visited a museum in the last three years has a 20.8% higher household income that the average American, regardless of race or ethnicity.
• For Asian visitors, the median household income is 10% higher than the median household income among all self-identified Asians.
• Median household income levels are 12% higher for White non-Hispanic cultural visitors when compared to the broader self-identified White non-Hispanic population. Hispanic visitors have a notable 39% higher median household income than the overall US median for Hispanic individuals.
• Black and African American visitors indicate a 65% higher than the median household income for others self-identified within this cohort. 
• Racial and ethnic diversity onsite is not the same as income diversity onsite. While it's true that certain cohorts may generally report lower household incomes than others, the individuals onsite at a museum or performing arts organization are people who have chosen to spend their time at these places. This decision aligns with certain psychographic and behavioral findings - not only demographic findings. 
• There is an observed gap in the household incomes of visitors based on self-identified race and ethnicity. BIPOC individuals represent a notably underserved audience for cultural organizations. As entities work to become more representative of the US population (and if household income isn't able to swiftly become more equitably balanced), then it's likely that the median income for cultural entities would more closely approximate the national numbers. As of right now, cultural organization visitors are not representative of the US population (yet). 
• If leaders operate as if museum visitors represent the full spectrum of the US population before it's true, we jeopardize our ability to create programs that may actually help achieve this goal. We want to engage audiences who are representative of our community at appropriate rates. 
• Target programs specifically to affordable access audiences - not races of ethnicities. Cultural entities may maintain two ongoing initiatives at the same time: to engage more BIPOC individuals at representative rates within their communities, and also to engage more lower-income individuals at representative rates within their communities. These initiatives may overlap, but they are not the same. 

Travel Research Round-Up

This week's latest trends and traveler sentiments in a one-page research summary. 

 View Research Round-Up Here