by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 3:39 PM ET, Thu April 8, 2021
A new survey conducted in February and March suggests that the vast majority of travelers desire to travel internationally, and will do so once borders reopen.
The survey, conducted by SchengenVisaInfo.com, asked 8,205 people under 45 years of age worldwide how the pandemic has impacted their desire to travel. An overwhelming 95 percent of those surveyed would consider traveling internationally once restrictions are lifted; 87 percent have a strong desire to travel internationally right now.
The main reason why the respondents would like to travel might be surprising, though; it wasn't for a traditional vacation, but to visit family and friends outside of their own respective countries. About three-quarters would visit family and friends should borders reopen this year.
Those who have been most affected by the international travel ban are couples who live in separate countries; 71 percent of respondents agree that couples, many of whom have had to spend a year apart, were most affected by the border closings.
More than half of the respondents believe that travel, despite COVID-19's spread across the world and its new mutations, is not that unsafe. Currently, the United States, Brazil, India, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey, Spain and Germany top the list as having the highest number of infections in what WHO calls the world's third wave, prompting most governments to keep their borders closed and restrictions in place.
Sixty-two percent of those surveyed believe that testing for COVID-19 upon arrival would be the best way to prevent the spread internationally, while the second-highest answer was a combination of testing, quarantine and secondary testing.
While most believe testing is an important part of combating the spread of the virus, 41 percent believe that vaccination against COVID-19 should be made mandatory for international travel, demonstrating that people are most evenly divided on the topic of vaccination requirements.
Hopes for travel this year, overall, are low: only 29 percent believe they'll be able to travel internationally this year, while 37 percent believe that it will be impossible to travel outside of their own countries.
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