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The State of the American Traveler: Week of July 6, 2020

Date

July 6, 2020

Category

The State of the American Traveler

By

Future Partners

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 July 3rd-5th.


Key Findings to Know:

  • 63.0% of American travelers feel the pandemic is going to get worse in the US in the next month—up dramatically from 34.7% at the beginning of June.
  • Americans reported ability to be inspired to travel in the next three months—even under attractive conditions—has declined with the worsening of the pandemic.
  • The percent of Americans saying there are certain destinations they would normally consider visiting but now will absolutely not jumped to 37.3% from 29.6% in just one week.
  • When asked what’s driving the avoidance of these destinations, rising coronavirus cases and the perceived unsatisfactory management of the situation, as well as the expected poor behavior of other tourists was most cited.
  • Nevertheless, there are many Americans who are still traveling or planning to: 16.5% took a trip for the Fourth of July holiday, more than double Memorial Day.
  • The profile of these holiday travelers—younger, male, urban, affluent—may offer clues to travel’s near-term.
  • Americans who already have a destination(s) in mind for their 2020 leisure travel plans continue to show an affinity for beaches.
  • The hotel operational practices that would make Americans feel most confident that their health is being looked after is employees wearing masks and gloves, well-explained cleaning procedures, enforced social distancing and being provided with sanitizer and masks.

As record numbers of cases continue to be reported throughout the United States, 63.0% of travelers feel the situation is going to get worse in the next month—up dramatically from 34.7% at the beginning of June. Perceptions of travel activities being unsafe are the highest they have been since the week of April 27th. Thus, now 40.6% of American travelers say they don’t have a leisure trip planned for the remainder of 2020.

Americans reported ability to be inspired to travel in the next three months—even under attractive conditions—has also declined with the worsening of the pandemic. While last week 35.0% of American travelers said they would be open to taking a trip they had not previously considered, this has fallen to 29.0% this week. There was also a significant increase in the percent of Americans who said there are certain destinations they would normally consider visiting but now will absolutely not due to the coronavirus situation—37.3% up from 29.6% in just one week. When asked what’s driving the avoidance of these destinations, rising coronavirus cases and the perceived unsatisfactory management of the situation, as well as the expected poor behavior of other tourists (more so than the locals) was most cited.

 

Nevertheless, there are many Americans who are still traveling or planning to. In fact, 16.5% took a trip for the Fourth of July holiday, more than double the percentage who traveled for Memorial Day (5.9%).

 

 

The profile of these travelers—younger, male, urban, affluent—may offer clues to travel’s near-term, as they have been tracking as more ready, open and marketable for travel. A notable percent of those who have or live with people who have a disability also traveled this Fourth of July holiday, perhaps underscoring travel’s status as a wellness activity.

 

Americans who already have a destination(s) in mind for their 2020 leisure travel plans continue to show an affinity for beaches (42.0%). Over a third of these travelers say they will visit a city this year and similarly, 32.0% say they will visit a small town or rural area. As hotels continue to be the most popular lodging types, when American travelers were asked about the operational practices that would make them feel most confident that the hotel is looking out for their health, hotel employees wearing masks and gloves topped the list. They also want the cleaning procedures clearly communicated, socially distancing enforced, and to be provided with hand sanitizer and masks.

Follow us on social for infographics of these and other key findings. Need assets for a presentation or something else? Find all the presentation decks from our ongoing traveler research here. And please join us monthly for a live presentation of the latest insights into traveler perceptions and behaviors.

We appreciate your support of this research from our small but mighty team of devoted tourism researchers.

Have a question idea or topic you would like to suggest we study? Let us know!

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