FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Meghan Henning
571.309.3961
Leisure Traveler Confidence Gains Steam
May 4, 2021 (Washington, DC) – On April 30, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced the extension of the federal mask mandate on planes set to expire on May 11 through September 13, 2021 -- a move broadly supported by travelers, according to the latest monthly Traveler Confidence Index developed by Travel Again. Over three-quarters of leisure travelers (78 percent) and business travelers (77 percent) believe it should be extended. Additionally, 39 percent of leisure travelers and 37 percent of business travelers believe the mask mandate should be extended until the U.S. reaches an 80 percent vaccination rate.
“Our survey data showed the initial announcement of the mask mandate received a 91 percent traveler confidence approval rating, so it comes as no surprise that travelers overwhelmingly support its extension,” said Travel Again Co-Founder Mike McCormick. “This demonstrates the power of instituting consistent policies that travelers understand. The mask mandate secures confidence for all those who are traveling, and also allows front-line travel staff to be more effective in their role in keeping the public safe while traveling.”
Additional Key Findings
The number of vaccinated travelers continues to rise with nearly three-quarters of all travelers having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination -- up significantly from 48 percent in March.
More than 75 percent of leisure travelers would travel domestically for leisure purposes in the next six months, a significant jump from 67 percent last month and the highest level reached during the pandemic. Also, many more leisure travelers have made future travel reservations than business travelers (47 percent vs. 20 percent).
The percentage of travelers that are fully “ready to travel” showed improvement on the leisure side jumping from 16 percent to 25 percent since March, while it fell from 25 percent to 20 percent for business travelers during the same time period. Overall, these numbers remain at very low levels.
Traveler Confidence Index: Leisure travel continues to lead the way in this very early stage of travel recovery as we saw the largest divergence in the Index since October, with leisure travel reaching 3.54 and business travel dropping slightly since last month to 3.18.
Travel Again has developed the Traveler Confidence Index assessing confidence levels in both the business and leisure traveler to guide the prioritization of future travel industry initiatives by measuring the impact on traveler confidence. This seventh edition focuses on U.S. travelers and we will continue reporting out on the index monthly and will ultimately expand to include other countries as well.
About Travel Again: Travel Again unites the global travel industry to restore consumer and corporate confidence in traveling and to encourage responsible government policy. Visit travelagainproject.org for more information. Join Travel Again and support the global recovery of the travel industry. Follow Travel Again on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.