Allianz, which is a financial and travel insurance company, conducted a survey of 4,300 random clients who had purchased a policy between June 19, 2019, and February 29, 2020, with the policy ending by March 1, 2020. The survey’s intention was to ask: “what would make you comfortable enough to travel?” 

  • 50% of those surveyed said that advanced sanitization efforts would make them comfortable to travel.
  • 49% of those surveyed said that a proven vaccine would make them comfortable to travel.
  • 42% would only travel after official health directives from government authorities.

For 50% of Americans, having reliable, clean, sanitized hotels, air cabins or a Covid-19 vaccine that has been proven to be effective, would make them comfortable enough to travel again. According to Allianz, most of the 4,300 customers surveyed would vacation within the U.S borders. They would prefer to stay in hotels and resorts as opposed to other options like Airbnb. This is due to the uncertainty in different Airbnb’s sanitization standards.

Joe Mason, the chief marketing officer at Allianz partners, noted that as much as the travel industry and landscape had changed, their customers were still eager to travel safely with their friends and family. Most of the people surveyed still considered travel as a crucial part of their lives. 50% of those surveyed by Allianz said that they would only consider travel if there was evidence of advanced sanitizing efforts.

There was a 42% uptake on requests for a “Single Trip” online quotation for domestic travel insurance at Allianz in their second quarter compared to the 22% of similar requests in the first quarter. Allianz stated that this was a 93% increase in overall domestic travel insurance quotations for the company. This shows that while Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down international travel, the focus has now shifted to domestic travel.

59% of the surveyed customers said that they were considering domestic destinations for their next vacation. According to Allianz, this is in keeping with other similar surveys that have been conducted. Interest in other popular travel destinations such as Europe has dropped. In places such as Italy, which was hard hit, there has been a significant drop by half in travel insurance inquiries in the second quarter as compared to the first quarter of 2020.

…as much as the travel industry and landscape had changed, their customers were still eager to travel safely with their friends and family.

There had been speculations that people would turn to road trips and private holiday home rentals. However, Allianz found that 54% of people still preferred air travel when compared to 42% who opted to travel by road. Only 11% of those surveyed said they would prefer to stay rental compared to 47% who would prefer to stay in a hotel or resort. Allianz found that 27% of the customers surveyed would prefer to stay with friends and family instead of staying in rental or booking a hotel. While the COVID-19 pandemic has frozen international travel for the foreseeable future, it has also inadvertently created a wonderful opportunity for domestic travel. Take advantage of this today!

Written by contributor Victor Kanake. Source: CNBC

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