Top Confidence Building Elements for Travelers: Mandatory Masks, Vaccinations and Frequent Cleaning
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Colleen Gallagher
315.447.2331
December 16, 2021 (Washington, DC) – The majority of leisure travelers (58.7%) and just under half of business travelers (47.6%) report the Omicron variant has at least somewhat negatively impacted their confidence in traveling - yet at the same time, the overall Traveler Confidence Index remains steady, according to the latest monthly Traveler Confidence Index developed by Travel Again. Additionally, the most important confidence building elements for both business and leisure travelers include mandatory masks, vaccinations for yourself and frequent cleaning.
“With non-stop news coverage and new uncertainties surrounding the Omicron variant, it’s not surprising travelers would report that it impacts their confidence in traveling when asked directly about it,” said Travel Again Co-Founder Mike McCormick. “However, we’re seeing a bit of an acceptance of a new-normal for traveling in a COVID environment with the steady state of the overall Confidence Index along with masks, vaccinations and frequent cleaning climbing to the top of the list of confidence-building elements for all travelers.”
Additional Key Findings
The number of business travelers willing to travel domestically in the next 90 days if asked by their company ticked slightly up from 69% to 71%, while the number willing to travel internationally in the next 90 days dropped drastically from 52% to 37%
Leisure travelers continue to be willing to travel domestically with 80% saying they would do so in the next six months if they could afford it. They are also more bullish on international travel than their business travel counterparts with more than half (51%) saying they would travel internationally in the next six months if they could afford it.
Traveler Confidence Index: TheTraveler Confidence Index remained virtually steady across the board with just slight decreases as the Business Traveler Index fell from 3.7 to 3.65 and the Leisure Traveler Confidence Index moved from 3.49 to 3.46.
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 13th 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.