US travel behavior in 2020: Traveling solo, vacationing longer, and booking it all last-minute

This year has changed everyone’s plans dramatically, but it has also changed the way we travel. In-destination travel provider Welcome Pickups has analysed traveler behavior, comparing the last six months (March 1st - September 30th) to the exact same time period just one year ago, to see how differently Americans travel now to how we were traveling back 2019. Here are the findings:

US travelers are vacationing for much longer than they were last year

Over the last six months of 2020, the majority of travelers have been staying in destinations for more than seven days at a time, this now accounts for 25% of all travelers. This same period last year saw just 7% of travelers taking long breaks. When comparing the travel behaviour for the same period of 2019, it was more common for US travelers to stay in a destination for just one (21%), two (22%) or three (22%) days, now this proportion has changed to just 18%, 16% and 13% respectively.

44% of American travelers have now become solo travelers

Over 35% of those who traveled this time last year had done so with their family. This has since dropped to 20% of all travelers. The same trend has been observed when it comes to traveling with friends. Now only 8% of travelers in the last six month have traveled with their friends, this time last year it was at 12%.

There has been a slight decrease in the amount of Americans traveling with their significant others, which was 37% of travelers in 2019 and 28% in the last six months of 2020. However, the largest shift has been in solo travel, which now accounts for 44% of US travelers, compared to the same time period last year where only 17% were traveling alone.

Europe still a top spot, but fewer trips to Rome this year

Americans haven’t seemed to shy away from visiting Europe this year, though there has been a drop in the share of visits to the top destinations. Barcelona is the most visited destination with 15% of travelers visiting, though this time last year it was 21% of all travelers. It is a similar case for Athens, this time last year 21% of travelers visited and this year it is at 14%. Rome has left the list of top destinations for 2020 and a non-European destination has made it instead, over the last six months, 7% of travellers have visited Buenos Aires in Argentina.

This year, sea and sun are the main concerns for travelers coming from the US

Enjoying the sea and sun have always been a priority for Americans abroad, however this year it’s far more important than it has been in the past. For the same six month period last year, 15% of travelers chose sea and sun as the main interest on their holiday, this time year it has increased to 23% of all travelers.

Exploring the neighborhoods, sampling the local cuisine and visiting sights outside of the city still remain as top interests for both this year and last year, however interest in visiting museums has declined year over year from 15% in 2019 to 7% in 2020.