A new series of polls from Reservations.com suggests that many Americans will not cancel their vacations due to the coronavirus.
However, many would avoid international business trips and also believe that the global travel industry will suffer from the ongoing health crisis.
When asked “How likely are you to cancel an upcoming vacation because of the coronavirus threat?” 66 percent responded they were not likely to cancel their plans. Sixteen percent said that they were somewhat likely to change their plans. Only 18 percent of those surveyed said that they were very likely to cancel.
Reservations.com’s research found that the least likely group to change travel plans were younger travelers. Seventy percent of those in the 25-34 age group reported they were not likely to cancel.
International business trips were a very different story, according to the research.
When asked “Would you cancel an international business trip because of the coronavirus threat?” 43 percent of respondents said definitely, 10 percent said very probably and another 10 percent said probably. Fifteen percent said that they would possibly cancel, 11 percent said that they would probably not cancel and just 12 percent said that they would definitely not cancel the trip.
Reservations.com also asked respondents how they thought the travel industry would fair during the crisis, and a large majority believes that it will be adversely affected.
A full 64 percent think the industry will suffer, while 24 percent are undecided and just 12 percent disagree or strongly disagree, the survey showed.
The last major outbreak, SARS, had a devastating effect on Southeast Asia, with hard-hit areas such as Singapore and Hong Kong losing 43 percent and 41 percent of tourism GDP respectively.