Yellow Duck Marketing conducted a survey gauging the sentiments of more than 300 respondents about their leisure summer travel plans. The survey closed on 3/27/2020.
More than 60% of travelers said they haven’t yet adjusted their summer vacation plans due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Key Takeaways
- The majority (67.2%) said they had summer travel plans in place prior to the coronavirus outbreak. Although 39.5% of respondents said they had cancelled all summer travel plans, nearly half (49.2%) said they were waiting to see if they would need to make any adjustments, while another 11.3% said they would not make any changes unless they absolutely had to.
- When asked what type of travel they would consider, 38.3% indicated a willingness to fly domestically and 18.3% said they would consider an international flight. 68% said they would still consider taking a trip to a destination within driving distance.
- More than a third of respondents said they were willing to drive more than 500 miles each way to reach their travel destination with respondents from the Mountain Region (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada) being the most willing to drive over 500 miles (50%). Less than a quarter of respondents said they had ruled out travel completely during the summer months.
- Unsurprisingly, the outlook for the beginning of the summer is much different than the end of the summer. Fewer travelers expressed confidence in traveling this June (13.62%), but for the month of August, 31.3% described themselves as “confident” in their ability to travel while another 16.3% described themselves as “fully confident,” totaling 48%.
- When asked to choose a milestone that would trigger their travel, 24.3% of respondents said they would wait until there were no new cases of COVID-19, and 22.3% said they would be willing to travel when their stay-at-home or shelter-in-place order is lifted. Another 22.3% said they didn’t know yet what their milestone would be, and 17.6% said a decline in the number of new cases would give them confidence to travel.
- A large hotel, private villa/vacation rental home or small/boutique hotel were among the top choices among respondents when asked what type of accommodation they would consider, but the most popular choice was to stay with family and friends particularly for those under 35 years old.
“For the hospitality industry, this survey demonstrates that there is significant, pent-up demand among consumers for travel—particularly within a day’s drive–that will likely become evident when state and local restrictions are eased in the future.” – Yellow Duck Marketing
“For the hospitality industry, this survey demonstrates that there is significant, pent-up demand among consumers for travel—particularly within a day’s drive–that will likely become evident when state and local restrictions are eased in the future.” – Yellow Duck Marketing
Highlighted information: (click tabs or scroll to view)
Confidence to Travel (by Month)
Please rank how confident you are in being able to travel this summer by month?
Have you adjusted your summer travel plans?
What would trigger making travel plans?
At what milestone will you be confident making travel plans?
(Answers by Age Group)
When asked to choose a milestone that would trigger their travel, 24.3% of respondents said they would wait until there were no new cases of COVID-19, and 22.3% said they would be willing to travel when their stay-at-home or shelter-in-place order is lifted. Another 22.3% said they didn’t know yet what their milestone would be, and 17.6% said a decline in the number of new cases would give them confidence to travel.
In which type of accommodation would you consider staying?
A large hotel, private villa/vacation rental home or small/boutique hotel were among the top choices among respondents when asked what type of accommodation they would consider, but the most popular choice was to stay with family and friends particularly for those under 35 years old.
In what type of accommodation would you consider staying? (Check all that apply)
Travel Budget & Frequency Outlook
Only 18% of respondents said they had decreased their travel budget this year but the majority haven’t decided yet, a sign that people are unsure of their financial footing given the upsurge in unemployment rate. Similarly, when asked how many leisure trips of 2+ nights they plan to take this summer 22% were unsure, but 36% planned at least 3 trips.
How have you adjusted your summer travel budget from last year to this year?
How many leisure trips of 2 nights or longer do you plan to take this summer?
Respondent Information
Nearly a third said they budget between $1,000 and $2,500 for their summer vacations, 24% said they budget between $2,500 and $5,000, and another 24.7% typically budget between $500 and $1,000.
What amount do you typically budget for summer vacation(s) for your household?
Respondents by Region
Want More Info?
If you would like to see the full survey results or other analysis, please fill out the following information and we’ll be in touch:
Yellow Duck Marketing is a full-service marketing firm that has managed integrated campaigns for travel and hospitality clients such as Kimpton Hotels. Respondents were recruited via randomly selected Facebook users over 18 years old with an interest in travel. The respondents were not paid for their data but many did enter to win a chance to win an Amazon gift card which was awarded to a randomly selected winner. The sample size was 301, which translates to a margin of error of 6%.
For more information, contact us.
