Results of Wave 2 (April 4 – 11) survey of U.S. travelers by MMGY

The U.S. Travel Association has engaged MMGY to conduct an ongoing survey to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on U.S. travelers. The online survey designed and analyzed by MMGY Travel Intelligence is conducted bi-weekly among 1,200 U.S. residents who have taken an overnight trip for either business or leisure in the past 12 months. The maximum error at the 95% level of confidence for a sample of 1,200 +/-2.83%.
These are the results for Wave II April 4-11, 2020

• 90% of travelers surveyed had some type of travel or travel related activity planned prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. 23% had planned an international flight and 13% had planned a cruise.
• 80% of those either canceled or postponed those plans. 47% cancelled their international flight while 37% postponed the flight. 49% cancelled their cruise while 37% postponed it.
• As COVID-19 impact grew, consumer sentiment around personal safety related to travel showed a drop in the most current wave results. Travelers who said they felt safe staying in a hotel, or a resort declined from 20% in Wave 1 to just 13% in the current wave. And, traveler sentiment about taking an international flight fell into the single digits, with just 9% of respondents saying they would feel safe doing so with a similar number, 9%, saying they would feel safe taking a cruise.
• Once the COVID-19 pandemic passes, more than half of the respondents to the current wave will be eager to travel for leisure. And, 4 in 10 will likely travel by plane, while 1 in 3 are likely to take a vacation closer to home than they were before COVID-19. 35% indicated it was likely they would take an international flight while 21% said it was likely they would take a cruise.
• Consumer intent to travel in the upcoming 6 months, for both leisure and business, continues to decline however as the COVID-19 pandemic expands and intensifies. Intent to travel for a leisure vacation has fallen from 39% in Wave 1 to just 31% in Wave II. And, intent to travel for business in the next 6 months fell from 26% to 21% in Wave II.
• More specifically, consumers are increasingly less likely to engage in specific travel activities. Intent to stay in a hotel or resort in the next 6 months fell from 41% to just 33% in Wave II, and the likelihood of taking a domestic flight dropped from 39% to 31%. The likelihood of taking an international flight fell from 21% to 18% and for taking a cruise fell from 17% to 13%.
• Early indications are the ages of those who will be the first to travel will skew younger as evidenced by their intent to engage in almost every type of travel related activity in the next 6 months as compared to their older counterparts. Less than 10% of those interviewed who were 50 years old or older said it was likely they would take an international flight while just 5% of those 50 years old or older said it was likely they would take a cruise.​ 

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