Report Overview
In our newly released Skift Recovery Index: March 2021 Highlights report, we opened the report by saying “March 2021 might go down as a true turning point for the travel industry”. While there will still be many ups and downs in different parts of the world as the uneven distribution of vaccines continues in the upcoming months, we believe for the U.S., the upward trajectory is straight and steep from here on.
As of Sunday, April 18, half of American adults had received at least one vaccine dose, a remarkable milestone. Along with the effort of taming the pandemic, there is positive news on all fronts – stronger economic growth, job gains, consumer spending and confidence.
Our March Travel Tracker survey findings reflect all these recovery stories. Travel rate in March jumped to 35.3%, marking the biggest two-month increase since travel hit rock bottom in April 2020. Americans who expected to increase their travel spending also reached the highest number since February 2020, at 45%.
In this report, we highlight new trends in travel incidences, consumer sentiments and future travel intents distilled from our March Travel Tracker survey.
In addition, we added two new questions on vaccine status and its impact on 2021 travel plan in our March tracker. While it’s encouraging to see that getting the COVID-19 vaccines is definitely a driver for more travel, the fact that 31% of surveyed respondents said getting a vaccine wouldn’t change their travel plan until the pandemic is under control highlights that getting back to normal might still be a long way away.
What You'll Learn From This Report
- How COVID-19 vaccination might impact travel
- Travel incidences, Jan 2020–Mar 2021
- March travel highlights
- COVID-19 impacted travel, Sep 2020–Mar 2021
- Changing consumer sentiments on the economic outlook, Oct 2020–Apr 2021
- Consumer intent for 2021 travel
- Remote work trend and its impact on travel and mobility