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Update on American Travel in the Period of Coronavirus—Week of October 12th

Date

October 12, 2020

Category

The State of the American Traveler

By

Future Partners

MPORTANT: 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 October 9th-11th.

Key Findings to Know:

  • American travelers’ concerns about the novel coronavirus moved back up this week after decreasing last week, and with virus records occurring in the Midwest, Wisconsin has become one of the top destinations people talk about as having coronavirus issues.
  • Nevertheless, consumer aspiration and demand for travel continues to express itself. Approximately 80% of American travelers continue to report that they have at least tentative trip plans right now and at least a quarter of American travelers report that leisure travel will be an essential or high priority in their spending in the next three months.
  • More Americans than any other time during the pandemic period are now open to discounting as a travel motivator.
  • The perception of travel activities as unsafe declined again to a new pandemic period low this week, inching closer to where perceptions were March 15th.
  • More American travelers than ever during the pandemic period are now able to recall recent travel advertising and, more importantly, there has also been a 10% increase in the last three months of the number of American travelers who say the most recent travel ad they saw made them “very happy”.
  • Americans are seeking honesty but friendliness in their travel advertising; something that strikes an authoritative tone is largely seen as a turn-off.
  • Nearly 70% feel positive or very positive about seeing travelers with facemasks in travel ads, while less than 10% have a negative response.
  • In looking at trust to provide the information needed to travel safely, in addition to their friends and relatives, traveling Americans are placing the relatively highest degrees of trust in official tourism organizations, including state tourism offices and local convention & visitors bureaus.
  • In looking towards the recovery of the airline industry, among the more than 40 percent of American travelers who still feel stronger hesitation about travel, nearly 77% of this group of travelers say that mandatory COVID-19 tests prior to boarding would be important to getting them to take a flight in the next six months—demonstrating the ability of such measures to get people back to flying.

American travelers’ concerns about the novel coronavirus moved back up this week after decreasing last week, more notably fears about friends or family contracting the virus. With several Midwestern states reporting record one-day rises in cases and hospitalizations, Wisconsin has now seen an increase in the number who name the state as a top destination most talked about as having coronavirus issues. The percent of American travelers who say they are less likely to visit a place in the post-pandemic future because of their current Coronavirus-related issues has gone back up to 33.5% from 28.4% one month ago.

 

Nevertheless, consumer aspiration and demand for travel continues to express itself. Approximately 80% of American travelers continue to report that they have at least tentative trip plans right now and about 40% say their very next trip will take place this Fall. At least a quarter of American travelers report that leisure travel will be an essential or high priority in their spending in the next three months, on par with or even ahead of gifts for friends and relatives, online entertainment and home improvements. Excitement for potential near-term getaways and openness to travel inspiration continues slowly increasing.

In addition, more Americans than any other time during the pandemic period are now open to discounting as a travel motivator—a sign that a proportion of American travelers have now opened up to travel rather than being firmly unwilling.

More American travelers than ever during the pandemic period are now able to recall recent travel advertising and, more importantly, there has also been a 10% increase in the last three months of the number of American travelers who say the most recent travel ad they saw made them “very happy” (29.3%—while another 32.7% reported the ad made them “happy”). When asked about the tone of the travel advertising they want to see right now, Americans are seeking honesty but friendliness. In fact, something that strikes an authoritative tone is largely seen as a turn-off.

Notably, the perception of travel activities as unsafe declined again to a new pandemic period low this week, inching closer to where perceptions were March 15th. However, COVID-19 safety remains paramount to most American travelers’ trip decisions. Thus, when it comes to travel advertising, nearly 70% feel positive or very positive about seeing travelers with face masks in travel ads (after shown such an ad tested in this week’s survey), while less than 10% have a negative response.

When it comes to resources trusted to provide the information needed to travel safely, in addition to their friends and relatives, American travelers are placing the relatively highest degrees of trust in official tourism organizations, including state tourism offices and local convention & visitors bureaus. Compared to younger generations, Baby Boomers are less giving of trust to other sources. And save for government agencies, those least marketable for travel right now are also less trusting of these resources to let them know it’s safe to travel, while those most marketable for travel are generally more trusting of these sources.

In looking towards the recovery of the airline industry, we asked American travelers how important certain COVID-19 protocols potentially instituted by the airlines would be to getting them to take a flight in the next six months. Approximately 80 percent of American travelers said mandatory face masks and enforced social distancing would be important or very important to their decision to travel by air. Two-thirds considered other protocols such as testing and temperature checks to be important or very important. However, among the more than 40 percent of American travelers who still feel stronger hesitation about travel, nearly 77% of this group of travelers say that mandatory COVID-19 tests prior to boarding would be important to getting them to take a flight in the next six months—demonstrating the ability of such measures to get people back to flying.

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