Biden’s Mask Mandate Increases Confidence Among 91 Percent of Travelers

Independent survey efforts by non-profit organization Travel Again have revealed that President Joe Biden’s federal mandate for wearing masks while using publicly-accessed transportation has won a 91-percent traveler confidence approval rating.

Travel Again’s latest monthly Traveler Confidence Index, developed through research conducted at the end of January, showed that half of the respondents felt it increased their confidence in traveling, while 41 percent said that it had no impact and just nine percent reported that it actually diminished their confidence levels.

“The high traveler confidence approval rating for President Biden’s mask mandate while traveling demonstrates the power of instituting consistent standards and policies that travelers understand and this specific policy allows front-line travel staff to be more effective in their roles in keeping the public safe while traveling,” said Travel Again Co-Founder Mike McCormick. “Overall traveler confidence remains clouded with significant uncertainty, however, as only nine percent of business travelers and 13 percent of leisure travelers are fully ready to fly.”

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Other key revelations from Travel Again’s survey of U.S. leisure and business travelers, taken between January 25 and 29, include:

—More than 55 percent of leisure travelers said that they can foresee themselves traveling domestically for leisure purposes within the next six months, the highest such sentiment level seen since the pandemic stuck.

—A greater number of leisure travelers have made future reservations than business travelers (29 percent, compared to 11 percent) and business travel levels have again dropped down to the lowest they’ve been during the course of the pandemic.

—Over 80 percent of all travelers surveyed said they would opt to take a COVID-19 vaccine if it made were available to them.

—Mandatory masks and elevated cleaning protocols still take the lead in terms of consumer confidence-building measures, surpassing even COVID-19 vaccination and testing steps for travelers and travel providers’ staff.

—Overall, traveler the percentage of travelers who feel fully ready to fly remains very low, having virtually plateaued between December and January among both business (2.66 to 2.62) and leisure (2.61 to 2.73) travelers.

January’s Traveler Confidence Index was Travel Again’s third-edition analysis focusing on U.S. travelers. The organization will continue to report new indices monthly, ultimately expanding its scope to include other countries outside of the U.S.

For more information, visit travelagainproject.org.