The Big Divide

Americans appear to be divided on both the issue of travelling and reopening the country to visitors.

In its latest tracking study, Longwoods International found that 40% of Americans feel safe traveling outside their communities, while 33% do not feel safe taking trips at this time and 27% are undecided.

As for reopening their communities to visitors, Longwoods found – in a new line of questioning – that 35% are supportive, 35% oppose the reopening and 31% are undecided.

Amir Eylon, president and CEO of Longwoods International, observed that: “Public support for traveling and welcoming visitors to local communities is fairly evenly split at this time. Obviously, public support both for travel and visitors will have to increase significantly in order for the American travel and tourism industry to fully recover lost jobs and revenues.”

However, two trends regarding travel planning and expectations continue to slowly improve, with 77% saying the pandemic has changed their upcoming travel plans, down from a peak of 85% on April 8.

More specifically, 54% say the virus has “greatly impacted” their travel plans for the next six months, down from 67% on April 1.

The travel-related information of most interest to American travellers continues to be deals on future travel (54%), local delivery and take-out dining options (48%) and ways to support local business impacted by the pandemic (43%).