New research shows that high-income travelers are scaling back on Thanksgiving travel.
The study, from Morning Consult, found that Thanksgiving travel will increase this year compared to 2020's travel low, though it will fail to return to pre-pandemic levels.
While travel is bouncing back, especially now that COVID cases are continuing to decline, the analysis revealed that the country's highest earners-typically the group most likely to travel over the holiday-are limiting their Thanksgiving travel spending and the length of their trips.
The research also found that people are still staying home due to the pandemic. The share of adults who plan to travel in 2021 is down 12 percentage points from pre-pandemic norms, Morning Consult's data showed.
Forty-seven percent of adults indicated that they always or sometimes travel for Thanksgiving in a typical year, but 35 percent said that they will or might travel this year.
The survey also found that nearly every major demographic will see a decline in travel this year compared to pre-pandemic times but that higher earners show the most significant declines. Data revealed that those in households earning $100,000 or more are 17 points less likely to travel for Thanksgiving in 2021.
Monetarily, Morning Consult data showed that among higher earners, those who make $75,000 or more, 21 percent plan to spend less than in a typical year on transportation, and 24 percent will spend less on accommodation. While these higher earners plan to spend more on average in each category compared to their lower-income counterparts, it should be noted that the median expected spend on accommodation among both groups is $0.
However, Morning Consult points out that there are still five weeks until the Thanksgiving holiday, plenty of time for those without budget constraints to plan a vacation.
Overall, traditional Thanksgiving travel trends remain unchanged from more typical years. Trips taken over this weekend are generally shorter than leisure trips. In 2021, this is still true; however, the share of higher earners who say they will go on a day trip with no overnight stay is slightly higher than in a typical year.
The real shift is that high-earners are scaling back on weekend and long-weekend trips. All destinations both domestic and international declined with drive-destinations seeing the largest decreases from high-earners.
In addition to drive destinations, chain hotels could be affected by this shift as well. Both pre-pandemic behaviors and 2021 plans involve most travelers staying with friends and family, explaining the $0 median expected spend on accommodation, said Morning Consult.
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