Americans are ready to travel again, but despite viral images of maskless travelers, research shows they are more likely to engage and visit places with clear COVID-19 safety protocols.
The latest Longwoods International tracking study of American travelers found that 88 percent have travel plans in the next six months. That is the highest level in more than a year.
The research also found that less than one-third of travelers are inclined to visit a tourism attraction or a business that does not have clear COVID safety protocols such as mask requirements and social distancing.
"It's obvious from the data that Americans are ready to travel again but only if they believe they can do safely," said Amir Eylon, president and CEO of Longwoods International. "With many states reducing or removing coronavirus safety mandates, tourism businesses will need to figure out what level of safety precautions their customers expect or demand."
The Longwoods study, which was supported by Miles Partnership, also shows that Americans are still shying away from longer journeys in favor of road trips. Domestic and drive destinations are favored over international and fly-to locations.
They are also still more inclined to plan farther out. There is an increase in trips being planned more than six months out when compared with travel planning in the past month.
Only 13 percent of Americans said that they didn't have any upcoming travel plans. Eighteen percent are traveling within the next month. Nineteen percent are taking a trip in the next one to two months, and 27 percent within the next three to five months. Twenty-three percent said they have travel planned in six months or more.
COVID-19 is still the greatest impact on whether Americans are traveling or not and how they are traveling. Thirty-three percent said the virus was greatly impacting their decisions. Just 17 percent said their decisions were greatly impacted by finances.
Thirty-two percent of American travelers said that they were choosing a drive destination rather than flying, and 31 percent said that they were traveling within the U.S. rather than internationally due to the coronavirus. Fifteen percent are traveling to rural destinations rather than cities. Only 12 percent are deciding not to travel at all due to the virus, and 10 percent said they are canceling trips.
An increasing number of Americans said that they feel safe traveling outside their community (58 percent).
Many travelers are waiting to be vaccinated before they travel (34 percent), and 20 percent are waiting until a majority of Americans are vaccinated. Thirty-nine percent said that the vaccine has no impact on their travel plans.
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