Rising Cases Put Holiday Plans On Hold

In its latest tracking study of American travellers, Longwoods International reports that 15% of them have cancelled their holiday travel plans in the last two weeks as the coronavirus surges nationwide.

It also found that another 10% shifted their holiday trips from a trip by air fly to a driving trip.

Meanwhile, almost half say they did not plan to travel during the holidays and that has not changed since mid-November.

Amir Eylon, president and CEO of Longwoods International, said that: “The dramatic increase in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths is reducing consumer confidence in all types of travel, including holiday travel.”

And Eylon added: “We expect further contraction of the travel segment as health conditions continue to deteriorate across the country.”

Longer term, according to the most recent survey, three-fourths of travelers expect to change their travel plans in the next six months due to the pandemic. Close to half expect to reduce their travel plans during that time frame, while around a third believe they will cancel upcoming trips.

The survey, supported by Miles Partnership, was fielded Dec. 2, 2020 using a national sample randomly drawn from a consumer panel of 1,000 adults, ages 18 and over. Quotas were used to match Census targets for age, gender, and region to make the survey representative of the U. S. population.

Go to www.longwoods-intl.com for more.