US: What’s motivating people to travel this holiday season?
December 10th, 2021, Cheryl Kar

US: What’s motivating people to travel this holiday season?

Even as concerns regarding the spread of the Omicron variant poses a challenge to holiday plans, YouGov data shows that Americans are still planning to travel.

A study conducted by YouGov across 1,200 US adults reveals that when asked about their plans for leisure travel this holiday season, three in ten respondents indicated that they are planning to travel somewhere within the country (30%).

So, what’s motivating US adults to travel this holiday season?

Our data shows that more than half of American adults are motivated to travel to visit friends and family (57%). Looking further into this data suggest that Americans aged 18-29 are the most likely age group to say that they want to travel this holiday season to unite with friends and family (18-29: 64%; 30-44: 44%; 45-64: 60%; 65+: 60%).

Two in five US adults who plan to travel this holiday season tell us they plan to do so for relaxation (37%). One in five Americans plan to travel in the holiday season for a change of scene (21%). A similar share of travelers wants to visit a destination they have always wanted to travel to (20%).

One in six travelers in the survey want to travel for the sun and sand (16%) – indicating that beach destinations are on their radar for this group in the holiday season. Zooming in to this audience shows that it’s 30-44-year-olds who are most likely to be enticed by beach vacations (18-29: 12%; 30-44: 21%; 45-64: 14%; 65+: 17%).

Traveling for night life (12%) and shopping (11%) feature further down on the list among US consumers who want to travel in this holiday season.

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