Vaccines Lead to Surge in Travel Planning

Pandemic weary people are ready for a vacation and vaccines are providing hope for many travelers.

Longwoods International alongside Miles Partnership is tracking Americans’ travel habits and has found that travel planning is at an all-time high. One of the biggest reasons is the hope provided through the vaccine rollout.

“The arrival of multiple coronavirus vaccines has reignited travel planning in the U.S.,” said Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International. “The travel industry recovery appears poised to track in synch with the success of the mass vaccination program now underway across America.”

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Longwoods latest research shows that 81 percent plan to travel in the next six months. This number has increased 16 percentage points since mid-January and it is the highest it has been since the beginning of the pandemic last March.

In its most recent survey, the percentage of travelers who say that the coronavirus is greatly impacting their decision to travel during this time period has dropped to 40 percent, the lowest level since March 2020.

Vaccines are a big driver behind this more positive outlook on travel. Two-thirds of respondents said the vaccine will impact their travel plans. More than one-third of travelers do not plan to travel until they are vaccinated, and a fifth of travelers do not plan to travel until a majority of Americans have received the vaccine. Just 37 percent said that the vaccine will have no impact on travel plans.

The survey also found that Americans felt slightly safer traveling outside of their communities in the most recent survey.

The top information and content travelers were interested in hearing about were delivery and takeout options in destinations they were traveling to (47 percent) and deals and offers for travel, dining, and entertainment for future use (46 percent).

Travelers also wanted to know about ways to support local businesses/organizations and their staff impacted by COVID-19 (36 percent) and purchasing merchandise and gift cards from local businesses online.

Twenty-two percent were interested in learning about online virtual tours of museums, art galleries and other visitor attractions. Twenty-one percent were interested in videos of inspirational or interesting travel destinations.

Twenty percent of those surveyed wanted to see Live streams of performances by local musicians, artists, or theater groups and sharing travel experiences or ideas with others online. Sixteen percent indicated they wanted 360-degree images and videos or virtual reality experiences of travel destinations.