A new survey conducted by Allianz Partners shows greater optimism among its customers for future travel, with two-thirds of them planning to take a trip between now and November, and a majority feeling confident in resuming pre-COVID activity levels for travel, including a return to cruising, by the end of 2021. The number of customers planning trips in 2021 tripled in July, compared to those in February who were planning trips for later this year.
According to the survey, 66 percent of customers anticipate traveling in the next three months (by the end of October). Comparatively, when asked the same question in a similar survey in February 2021, only 22 percent felt they would travel within that same timeframe. Additionally, uncertainty over future travel has dropped by more than half, with just seven percent responding in the July survey they were not sure when they would next travel, versus 21 percent in February.
When asked how long it would take to feel confident enough to resume travel at "pre-COVID-19 activity levels," a majority of respondents cited they were "confident now" about staying in a hotel (84 percent), flying on an airplane (79 percent), staying in a rental property (78 percent) and traveling on a train (70 percent). Four in 10 (39 percent) customers said they were confident now about taking a cruise, with a higher citation among those from the travel advisor retail channel customers, where 47 percent responded they were confident about taking a cruise now. More than half (53 percent) of respondents would feel comfortable to resume their "normal" cruise activity levels by the end of 2021.
The survey found that customers plan to fly (67 percent, down from 71 percent) or drive (19 percent, down from 20 percent) to reach their destination, and cruising received a boost with 11 percent who plan to travel by cruise ship, compared to seven percent in February. When asked about the effect COVID-19 has had on customers’ comfort level to take a cruise, almost a quarter (24 percent) indicated it has not impacted their comfort level, and of those who said they were less comfortable, 72 percent still plan to cruise again.
Allianz’s survey also revealed that domestic travel is the trip choice du jour for customers’ next trips, with more than half (55 percent) planning to stay within the continental United States. Mexico, the Caribbean and Hawaii continue as the second most popular options (24 percent, up from 21 percent in February), and 15 percent of customers indicated they would travel to Europe (up from 14 percent in February).
The purpose for taking a trip has also shifted slightly: The survey found that 72 percent of respondents, up from 65 percent in February, said the purpose of taking a trip was to “take a vacation,” with all “trips” defined in the survey as a stay, for at least two nights, at a destination more than 100 miles from home. The next most common response, to “visit friends or family,” dropped to less than a quarter (24 percent) in July from 28 percent in February.
Source: Allianz Partners
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