Update on American Travel in the Period of Coronavirus—Week of October 26th
As we have seen at other points in the pandemic, the current increase in cases has heightened Americans’ concerns for their health and financial safety and adversely impacted feelings about travel—although there are signs that travel sentiment and behavior may not be as significantly impacted as during previous surges. Testing and social distancing look most promising for bringing air travel back faster, while strict masking policies are likeliest to bring resistant shoppers back to retail stores.
IMPORTANT:These findings are brought to you from our independent research, which is not sponsored, conducted or influenced by any advertising or marketing agency. Every week since March 15th, Destination Analysts has surveyed 1,200+ American travelers about their thoughts, feelings, perceptions and behaviors surrounding travel in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and explored a variety of topics. The findings presented below represent data collected October 23rd-25th.
Key Findings to Know:
- High concerns among American travelers about contracting the coronavirus and its impact on personal finances and the national economy rose this week, as numbers of cases soared across the U.S.
- As new infection records continued to be set in the U.S., Americans’ strong concerns about virus contraction and the pandemic’s impact on personal finances and the greater economy marched upwards again this week. Pessimism about the virus’ course in the U.S. is firmly back in a heightened period.
- The increased anxiety about the virus coincides with decreasing excitement levels about taking a getaway in the next month and openness to travel inspiration.
- Perceptions of travel activities as unsafe and the percent of Americans who agree they have lost their taste for travel for the time being ticked up this week.
- However, there are signs that travel may not be as significantly impacted as it was in previous surges during the pandemic. 35.1% of American travelers feel they have gained confidence in how to navigate the pandemic in the last three months. Americans are now actually exhibiting less agreement that they will avoid travel until the coronavirus situation is more resolved and their state of mind about travel readiness remained constant from last week.
- Three-quarters still have trips at least tentatively planned, and the joy travel brings remains ingrained. Nearly 60% of Americans agree that having a vacation scheduled in the next six months would make them feel there is something happy to look forward to.
- Air travel also looks to continue a measured recovery. Over 35% plan to travel by air in the next 6 months.
- Examining policies that may bring more Americans back to air travel sooner, comfort with airlines requiring a COVID-19 test prior to boarding increased to 50.7% from 43.2% just two weeks ago. However, social distancing continues to be important to a significant share of Americans when it comes to air travel.
- Well over 80% of American travelers plan to shop at a retail store at some point in the remainder of the year, although currently, relatively few plan to take a leisure trip specifically to shop for the holidays (6.7%).
- The health and safety protocols Americans most desire for the in-person retail experience include social distancing guidelines enforced and strict masking requirements, although required masking for patrons and staff is seen as absolutely required by those Americans who still perceive shopping as unsafe.
- Don’t forget to register to attend a full update of these findings, including a panel discussion with retail professionals about what to expect this season, on Tuesday, October 27th at 11:00am ET.
As new infection records continued to be set in the U.S., Americans’ strong concerns about virus contraction and the pandemic’s impact on personal finances and the greater economy marched upwards again this week. Pessimism about the virus’ course in the U.S. is firmly back in a heightened period, returning to levels last seen in July, during the virus’ summer surge.
As we have seen at other points in the pandemic, the increase in cases and thus concerns has adversely impacted feelings about travel, particularly in the near-term. The increased anxiety about the virus coincides with decreasing excitement levels about taking a getaway in the next month and openness to travel inspiration.
Although slightly, perceptions of travel activities as unsafe ticked up this week after a sustained period of decline. Similarly, the percent of Americans who agree they have lost their taste for travel for the time being also somewhat increased after holding stable for the last two months.
However, there are signs that travel may not be as significantly impacted as it was in previous surges during the pandemic. While half feel unchanged, 35.1% of American travelers feel they have gained confidence in how to navigate the pandemic in the last three months. Americans are now actually exhibiting less agreement that they will avoid travel until the coronavirus situation is more resolved (54.7%). Americans’ state of mind about travel readiness remained constant from last week (55.3%).
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Trips also continued to be anticipated and planned. Three-quarters still have trips at least tentatively planned. And the joy travel brings remains ingrained. Nearly 60% of Americans agree that having a vacation scheduled in the next six months would make them feel there is something happy to look forward to.
Air travel also looks to continue a measured recovery. Last week, the TSA screened 1 million daily passengers for the first time since March. Fully 20% of American travelers we surveyed this week reported traveling by air during the pandemic to date. Over 35% plan to travel by air in the next 6 months. Another 31.9% are pushing out to May or later in 2021 (although 18.0% say they won’t return to air travel until 2022). Examining policies that may bring more Americans back to air travel sooner, comfort with airlines requiring a COVID-19 test prior to boarding increased to 50.7% from 43.2% just two weeks ago. However, social distancing continues to be important to a significant share of Americans when it comes to air travel. Half are not in agreement with the major airlines returning to full passenger capacity and nearly 40% report they would be uncomfortable flying if the seat next to them was occupied by a stranger.
With shopping such a commonly planned trip activity and the holiday season upon us, our research this week also looked specifically at Americans’ retail behaviors and feelings about the in-person experience amidst the pandemic. Nearly all surveyed have shopped in-person at some kind of store (most commonly supermarkets) during the pandemic. The relatively strongest perceptions of safety were felt at specialty stores and the relatively least felt at big box stores. Well over 80% plan to shop at a retail store at some point in the remainder of the year, although currently, relatively few plan to take a leisure trip specifically to shop for the holidays (6.7%). Those who currently plan to only shop online for the holidays are evenly split on whether they could be convinced to shop in-person. The health and safety protocols Americans most desire for the in-person retail experience include social distancing guidelines enforced and strict masking requirements, although required masking for patrons and staff is seen as absolutely required by those Americans who still perceive shopping as unsafe.
