NEW YORK — The U.S. Travel Association has partnered with MMGY Travel Intelligence to conduct a bi-weekly study of U.S. business and leisure travellers. This survey measures current and future traveller sentiment amid the COVID-19 pandemic and tracks trends and shifts in travel intentions. The study will poll respondents for both domestic and international travel intent by purpose and type.
Key findings from the April 4 to 11 report include:
- Ninety per cent of travellers surveyed had some type of travel or travel-related activity planned prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and 80 per cent of those either cancelled or postponed those plans.
- While almost six in 10 leisure travellers have already cancelled a planned vacation as a result of COVID-19, about one in three have simply postponed their vacation plans in hopes of rescheduling for later in the year.
- Once the COVID-19 pandemic passes, more than half of the respondents to the current wave will be eager to travel for leisure. And, four in 10 will likely travel by plane, while one in three are likely to take a vacation closer to home than they were before COVID-19.
- Consumer intent to travel in the upcoming six months, for both leisure and business, continues to decline as the COVID-19 pandemic expands and intensifies. Intent to travel for a leisure vacation has fallen from 39 per cent in Wave 1 (first survey) to just 31 per cent in Wave II. And, intent to travel for business in the next six months fell from 26 per cent to 21 per cent in Wave II.
- More specifically, consumers are increasingly less likely to engage in specific travel activities. Intent to stay in a hotel or resort in the upcoming six months fell from 41 per cent to just 33 per cent in Wave II, and the likelihood of taking a domestic flight dropped from 39 per cent to 31 per cent.
- Early indications are the ages of those who will be the first to travel will skew younger, as evidenced by their intent to engage in almost every type of travel-related activity in the next six months.
