Summer Travel Surges as Covid-19 Recedes
According to the latest Longwoods International tracking study of American travelers, the number of travelers with trips in the upcoming months continues to rise. About a quarter of travelers have trips planned in the next month, and another half have trips scheduled in the next five months. After a busy Memorial Day weekend for travel, the impact of rising vaccination rates and falling coronavirus case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths portend a robust summer travel season. Two thirds of travelers feel safe shopping and dining in local stores and restaurants and traveling outside their communities, both measures at their highest levels in more than a year.
“The pent-up demand for travel after more than a year of lockdown is obvious in the most recent data,” said Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International. “Americans are confident that they can once again travel safely, and they are hitting the road this summer.”
Drive-to and domestic trips continue to be favored over air travel and foreign destinations, as Americans adjust to the post-pandemic travel environment. American travelers are split on their plans for remote work in the future. While 54% don’t plan to work remotely in the short to medium term, 29% of American travelers say they do plan to work remotely, with a portion planning to work from a destination away from home.
The survey, supported by Miles Partnership, was fielded May 26, 2021 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.