The road back to travel for many Americans will literally be on the road.
New research from MMGY Travel Intelligence shows that travelers are warming up to the idea of a vacation as they begin to see the peak of COVID-19 pass and states start to reopen.
Key findings from the latest wave of the Traveler Intentions Pulse Survey (TIPS) show that there is a growing interest in road trips and destinations that are close to home.
The percentage of travelers who agreed that they are more likely to travel by car after COVID-19 passes increased in the last two weeks from 35 percent in Wave II to 47 percent in Wave III.
The percentage who said they are more likely to travel to destinations close to home increased from 36 percent in Wave II to 42 percent in Wave III. Older travelers were more likely to agree with this.
This third wave also found that the percentage of travelers who said that an easing of travel restrictions would impact their decision to travel increased from 45 percent in Wave II to 53 percent in Wave III.
While Americans may be dreaming of travel, they will be cautious when travel restrictions are eased.
The MMGY survey found that six in 10 respondents will be eager to travel for leisure once the COVID-19 emergency has passed, which is up from 54 percent in Wave II. However, just 38 percent say they are likely to take a leisure trip in the next six months.
As Americans begin to settle into this new normal during the pandemic, many are beginning to feel safer. Travelers were slightly less concerned about the threat of contracting COVID-19 than they were just two weeks prior.
Americans' concern about others in their household contracting the virus dropped from 40 percent in Wave II to 34 percent in Wave III. And, travelers aged 50-64 years continue to be the age group least concerned.
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