October 22nd, 2021, Cheryl Kar
A new YouGov analysis explores the appetite for fall travel among US adults and what makes them travel overseas
Even after a summer of rising concerns regarding the outbreak of new variants of the COVID-19 virus, large shares of US adults still express a strong desire to travel.
Looking at people’s general intent to travel over the next 12 months reveals 37% of consumers in the US are planning to take a domestic vacation, while 10% are planning to go overseas.
But when it comes to travelling in fall, are Americans ready to book a vacation? Our data reveals that if international travel were to resume tomorrow, free of restrictions and testing, 12% of US adults would book a vacation immediately or within a month. About one in ten also tell us that they would book their holiday in the next three months (9%), indicating the presence of an underlying appetite to travel and holiday sooner as well as later.
So, for fall travelers, what’s the motivation?
Relaxation emerges as the top reason among fall travelers to travel internationally (60%). Half of this group want to travel abroad for a change of scenery (50%) or to revisit a place that they like (49%). Closely following are consumers who cite uniting with friends and family (46%) and visiting an unexplored destination (46%) as a driving factor. An international holiday for health or wellness attracts one in five of this group (22%).
Further, the study also asked US adults about the last time they travelled outside the country. Half of them say it was before 2020 (50%) while just a minor proportion tell us they travelled abroad this year (4%).
It’s fair to say that appetite for international travel is strong among Americans this fall. As restrictions ease and life gradually returns to normalcy, we’d only expect this appetite to rise.
Get YouGov’s latest insight on Traveler Sentiment in Fall 2021 here
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