ALTHOUGH ANXIETY CAME DOWN A BIT, SO DID THE HIGHS SEEN LAST WEEK IN TRAVEL SENTIMENT
Key findings from Destination Analysts fielded Jan. 18 - 22, 2021:
- Americans continue to show that they believe better days are in sight. The percent of Americans who feel the pandemic situation in the U.S will get worse in the next month fell another 6.5% this week to 43.2%, the lowest it has been since Sept. 27.
- The modest decline in travel sentiment was seen across generation, although Boomer travelers are generally significantly less ready, excited and open to inspiration than younger travelers, even over the rest of 2021.
- One metric that did continue a positive trend is the retreat in perceptions of travel and leisure activities as unsafe - which dropped to 48.9% and is now lower than where is was March 15.
- In terms of what Americans are looking for in travel experiences in 2021, right now scenic beauty, outdoor activities in warm weather, beach destinations and resorts, National Parks and road trips are predominant in their minds.
- Right now, 36.8% of those Americans who attend live events and festivals say they would be comfortable traveling to attend such an event by June; the rest need more time.
- With the COVID-19 vaccine being a major factor for normalcy for many travelers, this week 49.7% say they will avoid travel until vaccines are made widely available.
Travel Research Updates
'RESEARCH ROUND-UP' CHART PROVIDES AT-A-GLANCE INSIGHT INTO IMPORTANT TRAVEL RESEARCH
OTA intern Sarah Herrick shares her recent project called 'Research Round-Up.' Click on the button below to see the most recent travel research at-a-glance from Destination Analyst, Longwoods International, IMPACTS Experience, and Tourism Review.
MARKET POTENTIAL BY QUARTER IN 2021: PROJECTED ATTENDANCE TO U.S. CULTURAL ENTITIES
Here is the overall level of attendance that museums and performing arts organizations can reasonably expect this year, findings from Colleen Dilenschneider Jan. 20, 2021:
- What attendance can exhibit-based entities expect in 2021? Exhibit-based cultural organizations include entities such as museums, historic sites, aquariums, zoos, botanic gardens, and science centers. The actual attendance to these types of cultural entities in the U.S. average 40.5% of 2019 in 2020.
- As of January 2021, the current market potential for exhibit-based organizations for the calendar year is 72.2% of their 2019 attendance.
- What is likely driving this change? The rollout of the vaccine. We see that many people planning to defer their visits until after they are vaccinated.
- What attendance can performance-based entities expect in 2021? Performance-based cultural organizations include entities such as theaters, symphonies/orchestras, and ballet. The actual attendance to these types of cultural entities in the U.S. average 22.8% of 2019 attendance in 2020.
- As of 2021, the current market potential for exhibit-based organization for the calendar year of 2021 is 57.7% of their 2019 attendance.
- We knew attendance wouldn’t recover at midnight on Jan. 1, yet there is still a reason to believe that the vaccine may start to bring more stability in the second half of this year.