Outlook for Overnight Ski/Snowboarding Trips This Season
It comes as no surprise that the coronavirus has caused major disruptions to American’s travel plans. The summer season, typically a bustling time for travel and exploration, saw a decrease of 120 million trips compared to 2019 according to AAA. Now six months into this pandemic and with summer largely in our rearview mirrors, will the ongoing pandemic have a similar impact on the upcoming ski season? As part of Destination Analysts’ weekly Coronavirus Traveler Sentiment Index study, we surveyed 1,200 American travelers and asked them about their potential ski/snowboarding trips this winter season.
This is likely due to the combination of enthusiasm about ski/snowboard trips, and optimism about the pandemic’s course. More millennials have taken a ski/snowboard trip in the past 3 years, and more millennials are likely to take a ski/snowboard trip in the next 3 years than average American travelers. When asked if they expect the Coronavirus situation will be resolved before the end of this year, Millennials were also more likely to agree (28.9% vs 19.3%).
When it comes to timing for these overnight ski/snowboarding trips, January and February appear to be the preferred months with about one-third of travelers (who said they were “likely” or “very likely” to take a ski/snowboard vacation in the next 3 years) choosing each as their likely trip month.
How do these upcoming ski trippers anticipate traveling to their snowy vacation destinations? Half (51.6%) will travel solely by car and a third (34.7%) will fly. Interestingly, millennials from this group are even more likely to travel to their ski/snowboarding destinations in the upcoming season by air (42.9%).
With these younger travelers being less hesitant to fly, the opportunity for them to discover new ski/snowboarding destinations is apparent. In fact, millennials are almost twice as more interested in visiting new ski/snowboarding destinations than the average American traveler (38.4% vs. 22.5%). With their higher levels of optimism about the pandemic’s course, high enthusiasm for taking overnight ski/snowboarding vacations in the upcoming season and openness to discover new ski/snowboard trip destinations, the coronavirus seems to be “snow problem” for millennials this winter.