The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 may have hit the pause button on travel, but some people still liked to travel. However, even those wanting to travel are unwilling to spend extravagant sums of money, which cannot suit the tourism business.

GOBankingRates conducted a poll of 1,000 individuals, 500 of whom took a vacation between July 2020 and July 2021 and 500 who did not. GOBankingRates analyzed the results.

Of those who have taken a vacation, 41.2 percent of individuals who answered the survey said they spent more or less a thousand dollars for their getaway. Moreover, 16.8 percent of respondents indicated they spent $500 or less, an impressively low figure.

Unfortunately, half of all travelers – 55.6 percent — chose to travel by automobile to their final destination. In addition, due to previous airline (13.6 percent) and hotel (16.6 percent) discounts, 30.20 percent of respondents said they were primarily motivated to take their vacation, which is not a sustainable strategy for the travel industry overall.

Millennials, Gen Z most willing to travel

The Q2 Expedia Media Solutions Recover Trend Report provided a much more optimistic view in contrast to the GOBankingRates poll, which presented a relatively negative image of the travel industry – at least in the short term.

A new survey found that 72 percent of Americans want to travel in the next 12 months, almost three-quarters of whom live in metropolitan areas. Sixty-six percent of respondents plan to go on at least once on summer break in the near term.

One related result is that people prefer to travel within the United States. According to the study, 60 percent of consumers want to travel inside their own country in the next 12 months, compared to just 27 percent who intend to travel abroad.

The same report suggested that 58% of Americans “feel comfortable” going on a trip three months from now, with 39% among this group not seeing the inside of an airport since March 2020.

Surprisingly, young folk reported desiring to travel the most.  In the survey, 70% of Millennials and 63% of Gen Z  are ready to travel. The report further supports the GOBankingRates’ findings that younger people are open to holiday travel than the 55-plus age group.

Encouraging tourism stats

In June of 2021, the American Automobile Association (AAA) announced encouraging statistics regarding travels on Freedom Day, which takes place between the first to the fifth day of July. Over 47.5 million Americans expect to travel during the breaks, currently the second travel recorded for the occasion.

Out of the ten best destinations for the holiday weekend, nine were in the mainland United States, with Kahului, Hawaii ranking tenth. Significantly, the two cities topping the list were Anaheim, Orlando, California, and Florida, home to Disneyland and Disney World.

It will be interesting to see how fast the tourism sector recovers from the pandemic. Lingering concerns about the virus and the Delta variant may deter tourists, so keep following how things will turn out.