Americans Cautious as States Begin to Reopen
As cities and states begin to ease restrictions imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, only 31% of Americans are now comfortable dining in local restaurants and shopping in local stores, while 49% are not comfortable dining and shopping locally. When asked how they felt about travel outside their home community, 35% said they would be comfortable doing so, while 40% would not. And as far as opening their communities to visitors, 31% said they are supportive of those efforts, while 45% are not.
“Public support for traveling and welcoming visitors to local communities is tepid at this point,” said Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International. “Americans remain cautious even about dining and shopping locally, perhaps reflecting a wait-and-see attitude towards the reopening of local businesses.”
The percentage of American travelers who say that coronavirus will greatly impact their travel decisions in the next six months ticked up slightly for the first time in six weeks to 60%, a percentage which has ranged from 58% to 67% since March 19th. Americans continue to view positive advice from the CDC and other federal health officials as the most important sign it’s safe to travel (54%), followed by advice from federal and state elected officials (33%) and the fact that states are easing restrictions (33%).
The most recent Longwoods International tracking study of American travelers, supported by Miles Partnership, was fielded May 13, 2020 using a national sample randomly drawn from a consumer panel of 1,000 adults, ages 18 and over. Quotas were used to match Census targets for age, gender, and region to make the survey representative of the U. S. population.
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