WASHINGTON, DC – Travelers resoundingly support the use of digital health credentials - sometimes referred to as vaccine passports - to facilitate travel, according to the latest monthly Traveler Confidence Index developed by Travel Again. When asked how they feel about their use, 83% of business travelers overall and 86% of leisure travelers familiar with the concept are in support of their use, with the majority being positive or very positive and a smaller amount holding a neutral view.
“A digital form of verification of both testing results and vaccination status is critical to the speed and duration of the recovery of business and leisure travel, but their use to remove testing or quarantine requirements for travelers who have them does not mean suppliers would have to require them for travel,” said Travel Again Co-Founder Mike McCormick. “The political positions taken in Florida and Texas broadly against the use of these tools are disruptive to traveler confidence – and ultimately hurt state and local economies.”
Additionally, the survey found roughly half (48 percent) of travelers have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine - well above the national number, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports at just under a third of the country to-date.
“This higher willingness among travelers to get vaccinated could be an indicator that travelers view it as yet another tool to facilitate safer and responsible travel and a way for them to get back on the road more quickly,” added McCormick.
Additional Key Findings
- Over 67% of leisure travelers would travel domestically for leisure purposes in the next 6 months, the highest level reached during the pandemic. More leisure travelers have made future reservations than business travelers (46% vs. 19%), with leisure travel clearly leading this very early stage of recovery.
- The number of business travelers who would travel domestically for business purposes in the next 90 days jumped to 61%, a positive indicator that business travel will someday resume once current barriers are removed.
- The percentage of travelers that are fully “ready to travel” has improved somewhat but is still very low (25% for business travelers and 16% for leisure travelers).
Traveler Confidence Index: Business (2.94 to 3.21) and leisure (3.08 to 3.25) confidence continues to tick up, which is promising, however, overall traveler confidence remains clouded with uncertainty about future traveling for both business and leisure travelers as the percentage of travelers fully ready to travel remains low.
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 sixth 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.