Travel in the time of COVID

How the virus is changing our vacation plans and priorities

If you’ve canceled or postponed much longed-for trips in the past couple of months, you’re not alone. While it might seem like a minor concession in the grand scheme of this pandemic, you will probably feel its absence strongly because travel plays a vital role in our lives. It’s a beacon of normality and interconnectedness, allowing us to conduct important business and visit loved ones who live far away. It also facilitates some of our happiest, most care-free, mind-expanding moments. For all these reasons, travel will most certainly be back. But how will it evolve? And how will we, as travelers, shape its rebirth? 

To answer these questions, Full-Time Travel conducted its first Miles Ahead traveler mindset study. Distributed to 500 of our subscribers and social followers between April 3-10 2020, the aim was to gauge how the pandemic is shifting their travel plans and expectations, now and in the near future. Their responses gave us hope that a new and improved iteration of travel is already on the horizon...

They’ll be traveling again ASAP 

Weeks of being confined indoors and looping the same neighborhood blocks on daily walks has left us dreaming of new views and novel experiences. Although booking is tricky right now, 50% of respondents are actively planning trips, and 89% said they intend to travel as much as, if not more than, they were originally intending to once restrictions are lifted. 

Their spending priorities have shifted

It seems that those lucky enough to maintain financial stability throughout the crisis may have additional funds to allocate to travel at a later date: 80% of respondents said they would spend the same or more on travel than they would have before COVID.

“After the restrictions are lifted, I plan on taking my family on an expensive trip where we hang, relax outside, don’t have to cook or clean, and just enjoy freedom in a spacious and non-crowded resort,” commented one traveler.  

In terms of the specific services they want to spend those additional funds on, a majority of the travelers cited sanitization and cleaning, temperature checks, refundable travel, 24/7 travel support, more intimate setting with less crowds, ensuring locals benefit directly from their tourism, private dining experiences, and pet-friendly travel. 

Their first post-pandemic trip choices will be influenced by nature 

After so much time cooped up inside, many are craving the wide-open spaces of America’s most nature-rich states. Respondents noted that their first post-pandemic trip was likely to be domestic, with 20% saying they intend to drive to their destination and 76% hoping to fly. When tallied up, the most popular domestic travel locations were California, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and Hawaii – states known for their beaches, mountains, volcanoes, and deserts, with a combined total of 18 national parks (California alone boasts nine, the largest number of any single state). 

As well as providing a tonic for weeks of quarantining, many travelers desire an outdoorsy vacation so they can avoid densely populated areas. Cities, in general, are a cause for apprehension right now. “When this is over, I will trust sitting on a beach, skiing, hiking, etc. more than urban travel,” said one respondent, while another noted they will be seeking locations that are “off the beaten path, to avoid crowds.”

Destinations in Europe, the Caribbean, Canada, and Mexico were popular international choices, along with Australia and New Zealand. 

For many, bucket list travel has never felt more apt

When it comes to planning their first post-pandemic trip, 63% of respondents were dreaming of visiting a new destination. The pandemic has created a seize-the-day mentality, and a majority of travelers are feeling motivated to book their dream trips. 

The remaining 37% intend to revisit a tried and true place from the past, taking comfort in the familiarity of knowing exactly what to expect. 

In the wake of social distancing, they will be booking group reunion trips with friends and family

It seems our virtual workarounds for social distancing have strengthened connections and fueled our desire to share real experiences with the people we love. Notably, 79% of travelers intend to travel with family or friends as soon as the pandemic is over, with 43% reporting they are even more likely to book a group trip than they were before. 

“I'm spending so much time on Zoom/House Party/Facetime/Whatsapp talking to friends from all over the world that I rarely had the time to speak to face-to-face before lockdown,” commented 31-year-old Katie O’Driscoll, an Irish brand strategist living in NYC. “It's amazing to reconnect with my Irish friends, but seeing their digital faces has made me miss them more, so we're planning a reunion trip in Iceland – kind of a halfway point between Dublin and New York.”

Other trends we saw were wellness/fitness and spa travel, eco-tourism, camping, art and culture trips, golf, solo travel, and river cruises.

They’ll be staying in hotels and seeking deals

In terms of accommodation preferences, 57% of the travelers plan to stay at a hotel or resort, and 44% will book directly through the hotel (24% said they’d use a third-party booking platform, and 21% opted for a travel advisor). 

The second most popular accommodation option is Airbnb or a private residence, with 32%, followed by cruising, with 4%. The remaining 7% was composed of other options, like staying with family and friends or camping. 

When it comes to making a final selection for their stay, respondents said they will consider special deals and offers, health and safety measures, location and accessibility, amenities, price, culinary offerings, family-friendly amenities, cost of flights to the destination, loyalty programs, and entertainment.