Omicron Impacting Travellers Confidence

The majority of leisure travellers (58.7%) and just under half of business travellers (47.6%) report the Omicron variant has at least somewhat negatively impacted their confidence in traveling – yet at the same time, the overall Traveler Confidence Index remains steady, according to the latest monthly Traveler Confidence Index developed by Travel Again.

Additionally, the most important confidence building elements for both business and leisure travellers include mandatory masks, vaccinations for yourself and frequent cleaning.

Travel Again Co-Founder Mike McCormick observes that: “With non-stop news coverage and new uncertainties surrounding the Omicron variant, it’s not surprising travellers would report that it impacts their confidence in traveling when asked directly about it.”

However, McCormick continued: “We’re seeing a bit of an acceptance of a new-normal for traveling in a COVID environment with the steady state of the overall Confidence Index along with masks, vaccinations and frequent cleaning climbing to the top of the list of confidence-building elements for all travellers.”

Other findings include:

• The number of business travellers willing to travel domestically in the next 90 days if asked by their company ticked slightly up from 69% to 71%, while the number willing to travel internationally in the next 90 days dropped drastically from 52% to 37%
• Leisure travellers continue to be willing to travel domestically with 80% saying they would do so in the next six months if they could afford it. They are also more bullish on international travel than their business travel counterparts with more than half (51%) saying they would travel internationally in the next six months if they could afford it.

The Traveler Confidence Index remained virtually steady across the board with just slight decreases as the Business Traveler Index fell from 3.7 to 3.65 and the Leisure Traveler Confidence Index moved from 3.49 to 3.46.