New Survey Reveals Promising Outlook for Cruise Travel in 2021

A majority of travelers who don’t plan to travel this year are targeting international destinations for 2021, with at least one in five eyeing a cruise vacation, according to a recent Allianz Partners survey.

The study of more than 1,000 customers who purchased a policy through a travel advisor or other retail distribution partner between June 1, 2019, and February 29, 2020, found that 60 percent of customers who are putting off travel until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic are considering taking a trip abroad in 2021, with at least 20 percent planning to get there on a cruise ship.

Cruising in the U.S. won’t resume until this coming fall at the earliest; however, the industry is beginning to resume operations with enhanced health and safety measures in place in other parts of the world, including the Mediterranean.

Looking ahead to next year, only hotel and resort stays are more popular (50 percent) than cruising. Trailing cruise vacations are staying with friends and family (13 percent), vacation rentals (8 percent), a personal vacation home (4 percent) and RVs, tents or cabins (2 percent).

“Travel will continue to evolve in response to the unfolding of global events. Meanwhile, we are discovering that our customers are more open to taking trips to overseas destinations once again,” said Joe Mason, Chief Marketing Officer at Allianz Partners, in a statement. “One area where we are expecting to see an increasing interest in the year ahead is in international cruise travel.”