With surging COVID-19 infections across the country for much of the summer, 72% of Americans decided not to take a summer vacation this year, and some have written 2020 off altogether for travel with 32% deciding to take a vacation in summer 2021.
Key findings include 72% of Americans did not take a summer vacation this year. Of those who did travel this summer, 71% opted for a road trip rather than flying. A third of consumers had to put off a milestone trip such as an anniversary or graduation celebration. That’s especially true for parents of children under 18, of whom 50% were forced to table a celebratory trip.
60% of Gen Z and 49% of millennials fought with family or friends over COVID-related summer travel disagreements, primarily over whether or not to reschedule an event and their decision to travel or attend an event. Younger Americans were most likely to take a trip, perhaps because they are less likely than older Americans to have severe complications resulting from COVID-19. In fact, 39% of Generation Z respondents took a vacation this summer, followed by 37% of Generation X and 36% of millennials. Among baby boomers, only 13% took a summer vacation, as did 9% of the silent generation.
Men were more willing to give a summer vacation a go, as more than a third of them — 37% — took a vacation, compared to 20% of women. “Women tend to be more cautious than men in many ways, so I’m not surprised they might be more reluctant to go on vacation,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree, the parent company of ValuePenguin. On top of that, women may have less vacation time to take in the first place and may bear more household responsibilities in the pandemic than men, Schulz added.
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