by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:11 AM ET, Wed April 27, 2022
New search engine data from Google's parent company Alphabet indicate people are getting ready for a summer travel boom.
According to Yahoo Finance, Alphabet officials said during an earnings call that search queries on Google for beaches and islands jumped 27 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2019.
The study also found that searches for passports online jumped 80 percent, inquiries for travel insurance doubled and vacation rental queries spiked 37 percent, all compared to pre-pandemic totals.
Last week, a Summer Travel Survey from Vacasa revealed that 63 percent of Americans are planning to travel this summer and 85 percent of those summer travelers say they are planning to vacation more than they did last year.
There are still some barriers to travel, as one in four Americans is pressing pause on travel until gas prices are lower and 20 percent are still not traveling because of COVID-19 safety issues.
Data from Allianz Partners found that travel to Europe from the U.S. might soar as much as 600 percent from last year. While this surge still won't break pre-pandemic levels, it does show that the road to travel's recovery is getting smoother.
While demand is expected to be up, consumer advocate Christopher Elliott said so are airfares, gas prices, potentially room rates, car rental rates - and all the while a staffing shortage continues to plague many businesses.
As a result of the expected demand, states and cities across the U.S. are ramping up their advertising campaign efforts to get a piece of what is hoped to be one of the busiest summer tourist seasons in recent memory.
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