While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing everyone to adapt to “the new normal,” many Americans are still exploring their own country and even beyond.
According to the latest Travel Sentiment Monitor, almost half of the American respondents are planning winter holidays.
Other key findings:
1) While only 35% of the respondents had planned a domestic trip when 2020 had started, 48% have actually traveled inside the USA so far, due to the international travel restrictions. When it comes to the touristic destinations, cities have become less attractive, receiving only 21% of the respondents. That is in contrast to travelers’ original plans. At the beginning of this year, 62% had planned at least one city break for 2020.
2) As many as 45% of the American participants are still planning to go on winter holidays, with more than half wanting to travel only inside the USA.
Since the pandemic lockdowns started, the short-term luggage storage company LuggageHero has regularly polled travelers in the United States, Europe and the rest of the world. This current customer survey was conducted October 20-26, 2020, via online forms and ensured gender and age balance.
New Year’s Resolutions could not be realized
Even though Americans have wished for many trips when this year started, the travel restrictions and health concerns have limited many of those wishes: while only 11% of the American participants in this month’s survey had not planned a trip for 2020, three times more (36%) ended up staying home during the first 10 months of the year.
In regards to those who did travel, 48% of the respondents have taken at least one trip inside the USA so far, a 13% raise from the plans prepared before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Besides distance, holiday styles have also adapted during 2020, bringing city breaks down to 21% of the Americans’ choice, a steep decrease from the 62% who expected to take a city break when health and travel restrictions were not such key points in planning.
Travel to nature areas did not pick up much of the loss of city travel, as outdoors travel increased only 4% compared to initial plans.
What’s next?
As the time goes by, Americans are getting used to this new and more cautious way of traveling, and are feeling enthusiastic about the months to come. Almost half of the American participants (45%) are planning their winter holidays, hoping that the predicted future waves of infections will be controlled and that a vaccine might become available soon. It is also true that most of these travelers (58%) will stay closer to home, considering only movement inside the U.S.
What will travel look like in the upcoming months?
Short-term accommodations are still preferred above hotels because travelers feel that independent lodging allows them to practice proper hygiene and risk management when it comes to COVID-19 infection. Only 11% of the American respondents think that hotels are a better option, while 45% will not use external accommodation during the winter holidays.
In regards to finance, the 2020 travel budget was severely impacted by the pandemic, with only 36% of the initial travel funds untouched. The big cuts are still happening, as 50% of the participants from the U.S. stated that they have reduced their travel spending for this year by more than 40% compared to initial planning. That dip represents the greatest financial impact since LuggageHero started polling on this subject in March.
