According to Global Rescue’s “Fall 2022 Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey,” travelers are shrugging off inflation and working around anticipated flight disruptions for the holidays. Despite inflation and rising travel costs, the majority of travelers (70 percent) have not canceled or postponed an international or domestic trip. To overcome airline staffing issues, over half of travelers (55 percent) will fly nonstop whenever possible to minimize potential flight disruptions due to airline staff shortages during the fall and winter holidays.
“In the face of airline disruptions and the rising cost of travel, travelers are sticking with plans to travel,” said Dan Richards, CEO of Global Rescue, a provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services, and a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The survey also highlighted growth in business travel—although not quite back to pre-pandemic levels yet. The majority of business travelers (71 percent) have already resumed business travel, while another 14 percent expect to go back to business travel by summer of 2023. Global Rescue adds that "bleisure travel" may boost the return to business travel. The survey revealed that the majority of business travelers (73 percent) plan to use bleisure travel and take a few extra days for personal enjoyment following a business trip.
“Whether you’re an employer looking to use bleisure travel to incentivize a return to business travel or an employee looking to take advantage of it in the future, it’s important employers make certain their duty of care legal requirements are comprehensively detailed,” concluded Richards.
Global Rescue additionally found that two-thirds (66 percent) of travelers will journey domestically for Thanksgiving or a similar holiday at the end of November, and 59 percent will travel domestically for the holidays during December.
“Travel is back to pre-pandemic levels and that means heavy crowds at airports. Travelers should book nonstop flights whenever possible to avoid delays or cancelations due to airline staff shortages. They should join a trusted traveler program like TSA PreCheck to move through security faster,” said Harding Bush, manager of security operations for Global Rescue.
Inflation is not curbing most traveler spending behavior. Nearly half (47 percent) of travelers are not making any changes while on travel but among those who are 11 percent are flying on less expensive plane tickets, 10 percent are lodging at less costly places, 8 percent are eating out less or at less expensive restaurants and another 8 percent are traveling for fewer days, only 4 percent are reducing or not buying souvenirs or gifts during their trip.
For more information, visit www.globalrescue.com.
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