Business traveler confidence soared in May with 42 percent now fully ready to travel—up from 20 percent in April, according to the latest monthly "Traveler Confidence Index" developed by Travel Again. Additionally, 31 percent are in the planning stage for some type of business travel this summer and 74 percent are willing to travel domestically for business travel in the next 90 days—up from 55 percent in April. But while employees may be ready, employers are not as only 22 percent of business travel respondents have current business travel plans on the books.
Travel Again co-founder Mike McCormick credited the increase in confidence to vaccinations and restrictions being eased throughout the country. With that said, confidence in international travel continues to lag behind domestic travel considerably (although leisure travelers are more anxious to visit overseas destinations). For the first time, more than 50 percent (50.8 percent) of leisure travelers say they would travel internationally in the next six months. For business travelers, 46 percent are willing to travel internationally in the near future.
More on leisure: These travelers will be venturing across the U.S. this summer, according to they survey, with 67 percent either confident to travel domestically or uneasy but still planning to do so. Only 13 percent are not planning to travel at all.
As noted by McCormick, the number of vaccinated travelers increased slightly, surpassing the 75 percent level for the first time, with roughly 14 percent saying they do not intend to get vaccinated. Vaccinations for yourself and limited crowd size were among the most important confidence building elements for both business and leisure travelers.
Regarding the "Traveler Confidence Index:" The confidence index for business travelers jumped from 3.18 to 3.77. That represents the largest monthly jump since we started the survey last October. Travel Again developed the index to assess 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 eighth edition focuses on U.S. travelers and Travel Again will continue reporting out on the index monthly, and will ultimately expand to include other countries, as well.
Source: Travel Again
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