45 Percent of Americans Say They’ll Increase Travel Spending in April

As of Sunday, April 18, half of American adults had received at least one vaccine dose, a remarkable milestone. Along with the effort of taming the pandemic, there is positive news on all fronts — stronger economic growth, job gains, consumer spending and confidence.

Skift Research’s March Travel Tracker survey findings reflect all these recovery stories. Travel rate in March jumped to 35.3 percent, marking the biggest two-month increase since travel hit rock bottom in April 2020. Americans who expected to increase their travel spending also reached the highest number since February 2020, at 45 percent.

However, we need to remain sober that a full travel recovery hinges on ending the pandemic, not just in the U.S. but across the globe, of which mass vaccination is only the first step in the right direction. While it’s encouraging to see that getting the Covid-19 vaccines is definitely a driver for more travel, the fact that 31 percent of surveyed respondents said getting a vaccine wouldn’t change their travel plan until the pandemic is under control highlights that getting back to normal might still be a long way away.

Skift Research introduced a monthly U.S. travel tracking survey in January 2020 to examine the travel penetration rates and detailed travel behavior of the U.S. population. In addition to the factual travel occurrences, we also asked respondents their perceptions on the macro-level economic condition as well their personal financial and travel outlook. As we move through different phases of Covid-19, our monthly survey captures the fluctuations of consumer travel behavior and intent in real time.

In our newly released U.S. Travel Tracker: March 2021 report, we highlight new and ongoing trends in travel incidences, consumer sentiments and future travel intents in the pandemic world, distilled from our March Travel Tracker survey.

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What You’ll Learn From This Report

• How COVID-19 vaccination might impact travel
• Travel incidences, January 2020– March 2021
• March travel highlights
• Covid-19 impacted travel, September 2020–March 2021
• Changing consumer sentiments on the economic outlook, October 2020–April 2021
• Consumer intent for 2021 travel
• Remote work trend and its impact on travel and mobility

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