Spring Break: Only 12% of Americans are Planning to Travel

With COVID vaccination in the US now underway, states are implementing different changes in their policies. 31 states in the US no longer have any travel restrictions. On the other hand, some states like Texas don’t even require people to wear their masks and even allowed 100% dining capacity. But despite these developments, only one in every eight Americans is planning to travel for Spring Break.

Americans Are Still Hesitant to Travel

According to a poll made by the US Travel Association, it suggests that Americans are still not too confident to travel. According to US Travel Association Chief Executive Roger Dow, “we really can’t recover until we get this pandemic under control”.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discourages Americans to travel if it isn’t necessary. Though the figures look better especially after the vaccine roll-out, US COVID19 figures are still high at an average of 65,000 daily cases.

CDC director Rochelle Walensky reacted to states shifting their travel policies and dropping public health measures. She said that “with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained”.

Health officials are worried that mutated strains will spread quicker than the vaccine roll-out. As the virus continues to spread, it can also continue to mutate making it trickier to deal with using available vaccines.

Struggling Travel and Tourism Industry

Early 2020, the US travel industry employed 16.9 million people only to drop to 8.7 million by April that year. Hotels, airlines, and other sectors that depend on tourism are still struggling with the decreased number of travelers.

However, despite the low number of interested travelers on Spring Break, US Travel Association is still optimistic. The organization believes that there is going to be a rebound by Memorial Day on May 31. President Joe Biden announced that the US will have enough COVID19 vaccine for American adults by then.