Signs of Hope Blog: U.S. Travellers Cast COVID Doubts Aside; Are Canadians Far Behind?

Signs of Hope Blog: U.S. Travellers Cast COVID Doubts Aside; Are Canadians Far Behind?

May 4, 2021 Jim Byers

A new poll about American travellers and a set of stats from U.S. airports shows a North American travel rebound is coming fast. And Canada may not be far behind.

According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the U.S., Sunday, May 2 was the busiest day for U.S. airports since March of 2020, just as the pandemic was getting into the public’s eye in North America.

The TSA says it screened 1,626,962 passengers on Sunday, which is a stat you can look at two ways. On the one hand, it was 35% below the same Sunday in March in 2020. On the other hand, that means U.S. airports had two-thirds the traffic they did a year ago, and that seems pretty remarkable when you live north of the border and are in another lockdown.

Here’s another item to consider. According to the latest Longwoods International tracking study of American travellers, only 30% say the Coronavirus will greatly impact their decision to travel in the next six months, the lowest level since March of last year.

The report also finds that six in ten U.S. travellers say they now feel safe travelling outside their communities, the highest level in a year.

Further, as more American travellers get vaccinated, the percentage of those who will wait to be vaccinated before traveling has declined to 27%, down from 37% six weeks ago. Four in ten say the vaccine has no impact on their travel plans.

“The negative impact of COVID-19 on travel planning is waning,” said Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International. “And the percentage of those planning trips in the next 60 to 90 days is increasing, encouraging news for summer tourism.”

Also important to note is that a majority of Americans now indicate that they feel safe eating and shopping locally (60%) and opening up their communities to visitors (53%). The latter figure is important, as nobody wants to feel they’re intruding on someone else’s space when they travel.

Combine the U.S. picture with the reopening plans we outlined for Europe and France on Monday, and you’ve got the makings of a travel rebound. Heck, I even received my first proposal for an international media trip to Europe in late August. Now, THAT’S progress!