‘National Plan for Vacation Day’ Helps Beat Burnout and Pandemic Fatigue

Entering our third year of living amid the COVID-19 pandemic, American workers are continuing to battle large-scale burnout. And, the U.S. Travel Association (U.S. Travel) actually just released some new data from Destination Analysts that proves it’s a real phenomenon.

U.S. Travel discovered that over two-thirds (68 percent) of Americans are currently experiencing at least moderate burnout, with 13 percent saying they are extremely burned out. Over half (53 percent) of remote workers now find themselves working more hours than they did in pre-pandemic times, when they actually went into an office. And, 61 percent report that they find it more difficult to disconnect from their job and go on vacation.

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"After nearly two years of living with the pandemic, Americans are in serious need of the reset that a vacation offers, no matter how near or far it may take you,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. “National Plan for Vacation Day is the perfect opportunity to sit down with family and friends and make plans for much-needed time off for the rest of the year.”

Even though everyone’s in pretty desperate need for some downtime and a change of scenery, the research indicates that Americans still aren’t using their paid time off. In 2021, only one-quarter of Americans used all of their paid time off, with average American workers having left more than four days (that’s 29 percent) of their paid time off unused last year.

So, it seems, the timing of National Plan for Vacation Day (NPVD) couldn’t be better. Because it’s too easy amid this climate to let your vacation days slip away, U.S. Travel and thousands of other travel organizations are encouraging Americans to participate in NPVD on January 25, and prioritize their own wellbeing by sitting down to make solid plans to use all of their time off in 2022, right from the start of the year.

Most participants in the Destination Analysts poll are actually eager to travel and would love to plan their next trip. Eighty-one percent of respondents said they were excited about planning a vacation within the next six months. Almost 60 percent said they felt that travel is more important now than ever before, with 61 percent reporting that they intend to prioritize travel in their budgets for 2022.

So, why aren’t Americans using their days off? Widespread reluctance to use vacation days might be blamed on the ongoing uncertainties involved in travel that trace back to the prolonged pandemic. While travel partially bounced back last year, the effort involved in navigating ever-changing domestic and international border policies, entry requirements and in-destination social restrictions can make planning a getaway seem like a complicated proposition. And, with new waves of infection, such as we’re seeing from the Omicron variant, there are, of course, personal health and safety factors to address.

Another reason Americans are having trouble taking time off may be that their job demands have intensified thanks to COVID-19. Rising case counts call for infected employees to be quarantined, leading to staffing shortages that create heavier workloads for those who are still punching in. Plus, it’s hard to justify taking time off for relaxation purposes when your coworkers are relying on you to show up just to keep things running.

However, the mere act of planning a vacation can alleviate some degree of burnout, with 74 percent of planning saying that felt “extremely” or “very” happy while planning and looking forward to their getaways for the upcoming year, compared to 40 percent of non-planners.

“Rested and recharged workers create a better, more productive workplace,” Dow added. “I encourage business leaders and team members to make vacation planning a priority, particularly frontline employees who have been working harder than ever during the pandemic.”

For more information, visit ustravel.org.