U.S. Travelers expect to travel more domestically and purchase trip insurance in 2022.
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – VisitorsCoverage, a pioneering Silicon Valley-based global travel insurance marketplace serving over 175 countries worldwide, released a breakdown of emerging U.S. travel trends for 2022.
Staying safe and closer to home
According to the consumer survey, 70% of the respondents said that they expect to travel more in 2022 than they did last year, but, in light of the pandemic, they prefer to stay closer to home. Almost half of those surveyed (45%) indicated that road trips were their most likely mode of travel, followed by domestic flights (22%). Only 16% of respondents said they would travel internationally in 2022.
Based on survey results, ‘Hawaii’ and ‘Canada’ tied as the most sought-after travel destinations for 2022, outranking the most popular pre-pandemic destinations like ‘Mexico/the Caribbean’, ‘Europe’, ‘Australia/New Zealand’ or ‘Asia’.
A trend we’re likely to see this year is the continued rise of travel insurance purchases prior to traveling:
- 64% of those surveyed believe travel insurance that covers them in case of cancellations and trip emergencies would make them more likely to travel in 2022
- 42% said they were ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to purchase travel insurance
The trend also reflects the growth that VisitorsCoverage has been experiencing since last November. The company had significant increases in website traffic and volume of generated quotes.
Flexibility is key moving forward
The vast majority of respondents said that they would feel safer and better prepared to travel in 2022 if they had ‘more flexible cancelation options’:
- 55% rated cancellation flexibility as the benefit that would give them the greatest sense of security and preparedness.
- Of those who rated cancellation flexibility as their most important concern, 41% anticipated booking more flights in – 2022
- 29% plan to spend their travel budget on ‘flight considerations’ like cancellation insurance, indicating the more flexibility travelers have the more likely they are to travel by plane.
This data on cancellation flexibility aligns with what VisitorsCoverage has been seeing. In the last three months, 99% of customers who purchased trip insurance plans have added a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) benefit to their policies.
“Travel in 2022 will continue to be marked by uncertainty. It’s not surprising that the top trend found in the survey is the growing need for flexibility,” said Rajeev Shrivastava, CEO of VisitorsCoverage. “Booking travel plans as Omicron cases persist creates understandable anxiety for travelers. They’re concerned they’ll need to cancel their plans, worried they’ll contract COVID while traveling, or wondering what to do if their destination changes their travel restrictions. Trip insurance with CFAR can offset these anxieties.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
