American travellers are feeling more jittery about travel. Again.
After a two-month period of recovery, with the emergence of the Omicron variant, the coronavirus has struck back on travel sentiment and behaviours. A study by Destination Analysts finds that American travellers are feeling more anxious and less optimistic about the near-term. Openness to travel inspiration is at 59.7%, falling from 64.0% two weeks ago. In Destination Analysts’ Travel Marketing Sentiment Index, the impact of the Omicron variant is now apparent, although the declines have not dipped to the lows of the Delta-variant period.
The study did not include Canadian results, but most reports I’ve seen show Canadians to be slightly more cautious than Americans.
In terms of trip plans and booking, 30.9% of American travellers say that the Omicron variant has impacted their travel in some way—37.2% of this group saying they have cancelled an upcoming trip and 47.3% saying they have postponed—and among those that have NOT been impacted, 26.8% say it’s likely that they will be eventually.
American travellers’ expected number of overnight trips in the next three months has fallen from 2.7 to 2.0 since November 26th. However, despite these declines, 30% of American travellers are still heading out for Christmas/Holiday trips.
