WARWICK, R.I. - According to a new survey by travel insurance comparison site InsureMyTrip, more than half of travelers (55 percent) polled will not return to the same destination as last summer. The results were part of the 2015 Summer Travel Guide, a compilation of data-driven insights to help consumers travel smarter in 2015.
This research also highlighted travel planning behaviors and preferences. For example, most will choose to stay in a hotel while on a summer trip and plan to go sightseeing, visit the beach, and spend quality time with family and friends. Top travel concerns include overspending and disruptions of vacation plans due to weather or health issues.
For this particular study, InsureMyTrip conducted a highly targeted survey and restricted the respondent pool to only a group of US travelers who either researched or purchased travel insurance within the past 18 months. Here are the results:
Travelers prefer to visit new destinations
- 55% will visit a new destination this summer
- 24% will sometimes visit the same destination
- 22% do tend to visit the same destination
Most will go on a summer vacation this year
An overwhelming eighty-two percent said they were planning a summer vacation. Twelve percent said they had no plans yet. Six percent had no plans.
Out of those polled, 67 percent will get to their destination by air.
Prefer staying in jotels
- 42% will stay in a hotel
- 25% will go on a cruise
- 18% will stay in a vacation rental
- 10% prefer to stay with family or friends
- 4% will use a timeshare
Sightseeing tops the list of summer travel activities
- 50% enjoy sightseeing the most during a summer vacation
- 23% like going to the beach or relaxing
- 13% enjoy spending time with family and friends the most
- 10% other
- 3% eating at restaurants
Travelers booking well in advance
Most travelers prefer to book vacations in advance with 82 percent booking a trip more than 30 days in advance, 15 percent booking a few weeks prior to departure and three percent preferring spur of the moment trips.
Tio travel concerns: Money, health, weather
The poll reveals that most summer travelers are concerned about overspending, health issues and bad weather affecting travel. Here is the list of concerns in order of popularity:
- Overspending
- Health issues before or during a trip
- Hurricane or bad weather affecting travel plans
- Missing a flight
- Bad experience with food or accommodations
The survey also asked how much travelers planned to spend on a vacation. Nearly half polled (47 percent) will spend over $1500 on a vacation budget. Thirty-one percent will spend over $5000.
Most Popular International Destinations: UK, France, Italy
This list shows the most popular summer destinations for travel outside the US (June 2015 – August 2015). This information was pulled from internal customer data.
- United Kingdom
- France
- Italy
- Caribbean
- Netherlands
More interest in travel in Europe
InsureMyTrip teamed up with pricing app Hopper to research travel trends this summer. With the strong US dollar, it is not surprising to find more Americans booking trips to Europe this summer and taking advantage of a bargain.
According to Hopper, the cheapest times to fly to Europe this summer are in the beginning of May and the end of August.
June is the most popular month for European travel
Prices peak at the end of July
Top Travel Insurance Needs for Summer Travel
To gain insight on the travel insurance needs of summer travelers, the research team polled licensed travel insurance agents from InsureMyTrip.
Here are the top reasons why travelers purchase travel insurance for summer travel, listed in order of importance:
- Hurricanes or bad weather affecting travel plans
- Concerns over coverage for a vacation rental
- Health issues affecting travel plans
InsureMyTrip estimates 80 percent of travel insurance consumers purchase a comprehensive policy.
Comprehensive travel insurance provides a variety of benefits including medical coverage, emergency travel services, baggage protection, and trip cancellation and interruption coverage.
Tip: Travelers concerned about hurricanes should purchase travel insurance early. Once a storm starts forming, insurance is no longer available.
