Study Sheds Light on Americans' New Year's Travel Resolutions

More than one-third of Americans (34 percent) have made traveling more a part of their New Year's resolutions in 2020, according to a recent survey of more than 4,100 U.S. adults conducted by European travel metasearch engine Jetcost.

Americans cited a handful of reasons for wanting to explore the world in 2020. However, the most common responses were having never been abroad before (29 percent), wanting to get out of the U.S. (23 percent) and desiring to see more of the world (16 percent).

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The top destinations that Americans want to visit in 2020 include Japan (20 percent), Great Britain (19 percent) and Canada (16 percent). Japan is poised for a big year as Tokyo will play host to the 2020 Summer Olympics in late-July and early-August.

Sadly, only 41 percent of Americans indicated that they had been on a vacation in 2019. What's more, only about one-fifth (21 percent) traveled abroad last year. Respondents cited not having enough money (36 percent), a lack of time off (22 percent) and simply having no interest (15 percent) as the leading reasons why.

Meanwhile, more than half of Americans (56 percent) said they plan to avoid traveling internationally in 2020, most often citing a preference for the U.S. (41 percent) and a fear of flying or of vacation in general (26 percent).

"New Year’s Resolutions can be easy to make, but sometimes hard to stick to, so it is often best to set yourself an achievable goal. Traveling more is a great target to make, and vacations are a perfect way to take your mind off work and other things," a Jetcost spokesperson said in a statement. "You don’t have to leave the comfort of the States to go on vacation though; there are so many different things to see and do right here within the 50 states."

It's worth pointing out that more than half of Americans (55 percent) left vacation time on the table in 2018 and often miss out on vacation and travel simply because they forget to plan. National Plan for Vacation Day is January 28, a day when all Americans are encouraged to begin the process of committing their time off for 2020.