Rising COVID-19 Numbers Put Pressure on Holiday Travel Plans

According to the most recent Longwoods International tracking study of American travelers, 15% of them have canceled their holiday travel plans in the last two weeks as the coronavirus surges nationwide.   Another 10% shifted their holiday trips from a fly trip to a driving one. Meanwhile, almost half say they did not plan to travel during the holidays and that has not changed since mid-November.

“The dramatic increase in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths is reducing consumer confidence in all types of travel, including holiday travel,” said Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International.  “We expect further contraction of the travel segment as health conditions continue to deteriorate across the country.”

Longer term, according to the most recent survey, three-fourths of travelers expect to change their travel plans in the next six months due to the pandemic.   Close to half expect to reduce their travel plans during that time frame, while around a third believe they will cancel upcoming trips.

The survey, supported by Miles Partnership, was fielded December 2, 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.