Travelers Not Deterred by Omicron

According to data behemoth Adara Marketing, which draws consumer insights from over 300 partners representing over 22 billion data points, demand for both business and leisure travel is continuing to build despite Omicron.

Source: Adara Marketing

In fact, so far, many consumers’ response to Omicron is to book more travel.

Both air and hotel bookings are up significantly, particularly for business travel. Fears of inflation and uncertainty over future travel restrictions is spurring people to take action.

And Europeans are still eager to travel to the US, except for families. The trajectory for business bookings is significantly steeper for hotels—up close to 300% since 1 Nov. Air bookings for families is in negative territory; it’s down over 60% compared to 1 Nov.

While conversely, US families are eager to vacation in EMEA with vaccine availability and travel restrictions being likely factors. Air bookings for family travel are down 60% from 1 Nov while hotel bookings are up over 140% suggesting a large timing difference with air booked far ahead of hotels.

Adara’s 3 big takeaways:

1. Travelers are still booking at a high pace despite public health concerns

2. Urban destinations are back in demand

3. Market demand is uneven and dynamic.

Bottom Line: despite governments' ever-changing travel rules, consumers are not backing away from travel.