Vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans have different attitudes about traveling this spring, according to a marketing tech company. And they don’t differ in the way you might assume.
Data from New York’s Zeta Global suggests that given the rise in travel bookings, unvaccinated Americans are more comfortable traveling – and to more populated places – than vaccinated people.
Vaccinated people wait longer to travel
Zeta Global conducted a survey of 3,700 US consumers in mid-March and combined the results with information on hotel and airport visits by respondents in February and March.
In the survey, 67% of vaccinated respondents said they won’t travel until the end of May, but only 59% of non-vaccinated Americans said they would wait that long.
Vaccinated care more about health measures
More than 80% of vaccinated people who responded to the survey said they were concerned about public health restrictions at intended destinations, compared with just 38% of unvaccinated travelers who shared this concern.
It is possible that vaccinated people will be more comfortable traveling when there are health restrictions, while non-vaccinated travelers will be more interested in how local restrictions limit their travel, said David Steinberg, CEO of Zeta Global.
The survey found that 62% of unvaccinated travelers were “not at all” concerned with public health restrictions in their travel destinations, while only 19% of vaccinated travelers said so.
Travel to different places
Zeta Global data showed that the top travel destinations for February and March as a whole were New York City, Denver, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, and two cities in Florida – Orlando and Tampa.
However, the trends diverged when broken down by travelers’ vaccination status, said Neej Gore, the company’s chief data officer.
Top travel destinations for vaccinated travelers
- Minneapolis-St. Paul
- Columbus, Ohio
- Washington, DC
- Boston
- Baltimore
- Cincinnati
- Indianapolis
Source: Zeta Global, hotel and flight visit
“Vaccinated Americans choose locations in the Northeast and Midwest,” Gore told CNBC, adding that the unimmunized had traveled to locations in the south and locations along the west coast.
Top travel destinations for unvaccinated travelers
- Houston
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale
- The angel
- Salt Lake City
- San Antonio
- Seattle-Tacoma
- Austin, Texas
- Little Rock, Ark.
Source: Zeta Global, hotel and flight visit
However, April travel data showed a shift in travel habits. Unvaccinated people went to densely populated cities, while the unvaccinated went to vast areas according to travel dates compiled by Zeta.
“Las Vegas is the city with the greatest relative change,” said Gore, citing data showing that the number of unvaccinated travelers visiting Las Vegas hotels tripled in April from the previous month during the month The number of vaccinated visitors there has declined.
Similarly, the number of unvaccinated travelers going to Florida in April increased (+ 6%) but declined (-16%) among vaccinated travelers.
Unofficially known as “Big Sky Country,” Montana attracted more vaccinated than unvaccinated Americans last month.
Mike Kemp | In Pictures Ltd. | Corbis historical | Getty Images
The trends in Florida are primarily due to in-depth travel to Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Zeta Global said. Trips there increased by 77% for unvaccinated travelers and 33% for vaccinated travelers.
While the Northeast and Midwest continue to be popular destinations for vaccinated travelers, “more vaccinated respondents are currently traveling to the Northwest,” said Gore, based on data showing an increase in vaccinated travelers to Oregon, Washington, Montana and Dakotas.
Travel to these states did not increase among unvaccinated people, with the exception of Oregon, which, according to the company, is mainly due to increased travel by both groups to Portland.
Northeast Europeans fly less
Adobe’s Digital Economy Index 2021, published last month, showed regional differences in summer travel habits. The report showed that Northeast Europeans fly less than other Americans. The flight bookings in March come from the region and only account for 56% of the prepandemic levels. This number does not match the booking setbacks from the West (63%) and the South (70%) and the Midwest (75%).
Adobe’s research shows that Northeasterners’ flight purchases are more closely related to regional vaccination rates. For every 1% increase in vaccinations in the Northwest, there was a 3.2% increase in flight bookings, the highest of any region in the United States.
It is those who are not vaccinated who should be afraid of traveling.
Harry Severance
Duke University School of Medicine
“The northeast was badly hit in the early days of the pandemic, which likely caused residents to restrict themselves when it came to travel and social interactions,” said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights.
However, the area is densely populated, said Schreiner, so that “viable alternatives for seeing family and friends” exist.
“A large part of the US population is accessible to New York by car,” he said.
“Increased risk” for those not vaccinated
Harry Severance, an associate professor at Duke University School of Medicine, said people who were vaccinated early are more likely to be concerned about contracting Covid-19 and have a better knowledge of the acute and chronic effects of the disease.
“So I suspect that this group will continue to have significant concerns about contracting the disease after vaccination,” he said.
Severance said the thought process is changing as evidence shows people who have been vaccinated are “less susceptible” to Covid-19 infections, and when they do get sick, infections are typically mild with a “significantly reduced ability to spread the disease.” “.
“It is those who are not vaccinated who should be afraid to travel,” he said.
“Those who are not vaccinated are at increased risk when they congregate in large groups of likewise unvaccinated people,” Severance said, “especially when these groups congregate from across the country as the risk increases, various Being exposed to Covid variants. ” . “
