As the summer travel season draws closer, the recent findings from Longwoods International’s ongoing American Travel Sentiment Study indicate that consumers’ concerns regarding COVID-related issues have been surpassed by concerns regarding record-high gas prices and skyrocketing airfare costs.
According to the study’s findings, one-third of travelers said that rising gas costs will significantly impact their plans to travel during the next six months. At the same time, one-quarter of respondents reported that the skyrocketing price of plane tickets would have a similar effect.
Only 19 per cent of respondents said that they believe the COVID-19 pandemic is now likely to influence their travel selections for the same timeframe significantly.
Inflation, high gas prices, and generally rising costs are at the forefront of visitors’ minds this summer, according to Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International.
“Inflation, high gas prices, and generally rising costs are front of mind for travelers this summer season. However, competing with these concerns is the strong pent-up demand for post-pandemic travel, so that surge in demand may somewhat mute the impact of prices.”
There has been a complete recovery to the levels of trip planning seen in the United States before the pandemic outbreak. Nine out of ten travelers in the United States now state that they plan to take trips within the next six months.
And the 19 per cent of survey participants who indicated that COVID-19 would heavily impact their travel plans for the next six months represent the minor portion of respondents who have said the same thing since March 2020.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Longwoods began tracking travel consumer sentiment and mood in the United States. Since then, they have continued to issue updated poll findings and analyses every other week.
You can have access to the whole findings of the company’s Wave 61 Travel Sentiment Study by clicking on this link.
The poll was conducted on May 11, 2022, with the assistance of Miles Partnership, utilizing a nationally representative sample of one thousand adult consumers in the United States. They were at least 18 years old. As a result of using quotas for age, gender, and region to match the targets set by the United States Census Bureau, the findings are representative of the entire population of the United States.
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