Travellers in the US will be booking more holidays this year
Americans are making up for lost time, according to Allianz Partners’ Top 10 Summer Destinations review
The report shows that after last summer’s vacation plans were largely scuttled due to the pandemic, Americans are regaining confidence in 2021 and planning trips to Florida, Hawaii and the Caribbean.
The travel insurance and assistance company analysed more than 985,000 flight itineraries for trips between five and eight days in length, and for the fifth year in a row, found that Orlando, Florida and Cancun, Mexico are the most popular domestic and international destinations for 2021 summer travel.
For the first time in the survey’s history, four of the top 10 domestic destinations are in Hawaii, with travel-deprived Americans saying ‘aloha’ to Maui (#2), Honolulu/Oahu (#3), Kauai (#7) and the Big Island (#8). Newcomer Anchorage, Alaska’s (#5) inclusion on the Top 10 domestic list proves that America’s love of the great outdoors and wide-open spaces will continue in 2021.
Mexico and Caribbean popular destinations
Internationally, Mexico appears three times on the Top 10 list; Cancun (#1) is followed by San Jose del Cabo (#2) and Puerto Vallarta comes in at ninth place. Additional Caribbean destinations completing the Top 10 include Aruba (#3), Puerto Rico (#4), US Virgin Islands (#5), Jamaica (#6), Turks and Caicos (#7), Dominican Republic (#8) and the Bahamas (#10).
The pandemic has also seemingly impacted Americans’ trip length preference, with many favouring longer getaways over quick jaunts. The travel insurance and assistance company found almost two-thirds (59 per cent) of travellers are taking seven-night journeys and one in four (37 per cent) are opting for six nights away, compared to 2019, when four-night getaways were the most popular choice (30 per cent), giving rising to the ‘micro-cation’ trend.
A welcome return to travel after a long lockdown
“For those who are vaccinated, summer 2021 will be a welcome return to travel after a very long lockdown. For those who won’t yet be vaccinated or who are travelling with unvaccinated children, it’s important to protect your trip with a travel insurance plan that includes coverage for Covid-related illnesses,” said Daniel Durazo, Director of Marketing and Communications for Allianz Partners, USA. “Allianz has rolled out temporary accommodations and permanent enhancements to some of our products that cover travellers if they become ill with Covid either before or during their trip.”
Although Allianz travel insurance products generally do not cover known, foreseeable, or expected events, epidemics, government prohibitions, warnings, or travel advisories, or fear of travel, Allianz Partners USA recently announced the rollout of its new Epidemic Coverage Endorsement, which adds enhancements for new purchasers of some of its travel insurance products that may provide coverage to customers who become ill with Covid-19 or a future epidemic, are individually ordered to quarantine, or are denied boarding due to a suspected illness. This new coverage formalises and adds to some of the temporary accommodations the company put into place in March 2020 to assist travellers who had been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis.