by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:48 AM ET, Wed May 26, 2021
The climbing vaccination rates and the opening up of businesses and destinations fully is leading to a rise in desire for travel this summer after a difficult year. According to a new poll by ValuePenguin, over half of Americans said they were going to travel this summer and more than just once.
The survey polled 2,000+ Americans and found that only 15 percent weren't planning on traveling at all this summer, which is a much smaller number than last year's poll, when 72 percent reported they didn't travel at all last summer.
Of those who won't travel this summer, around half said that affordability was the main factor in their decision not to travel, while 41 percent cited the pandemic as the main reason.
Those surveyed are planning to spend around $2,400, taking an average of three trips over the summer months. Also, those who will travel this summer plan to borrow money when doing so, as 27 percent definitely expect to add debt from traveling.
As for the type of vacation Americans are taking, road trips remain ever-popular, but the rates of those who plan to fly this year are up: last year, only 13 percent of respondents flew, but this year that rate is at 40 percent, which is a decent jump.
Almost half of those surveyed said that they wouldn't feel comfortable cruising; 44 percent don't feel comfortable traveling internationally, and 29 percent are still worried about flying, even with the record numbers of individuals flying lately.
There is still a lot of work to do by the travel industry to show that these methods of traveling can be done safely. Consumer confidence will be the biggest issue for travel advisors and the industry this year as cruises restart and international travel is once again possible. But for now, domestic travel is rebounding, and that's something to get excited about.
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