Search Sponsored by

Explore TravelAge West

Destinations

Back
  • Africa & Middle East
  • Asia & South Pacific
  • Caribbean
  • Central & South America
  • Europe
  • Hawaii
  • Mexico
  • USA & Canada

Travel Types

Back
  • Family
  • Adventure
  • Cruise
  • River Cruise
  • Tour Operators
  • Luxury
  • Culinary
  • Romance
  • Wellness
  • Sustainability

Directories

Back
  • Hotels
  • Cruise
  • Job Seeker Center

Interactive

Back
  • Click & Win
  • Geo Quiz
  • Slideshows & Video

Professional Development

Back

Industry Insight

  • Business Features
  • Interviews
  • Opinion
  • Tech
  • Humans of Travel Podcast
  • Coronavirus and Travel

Education

  • Certifications
  • Digital Guides
  • Fams
  • Thought Leadership
  • Advertiser Spotlight
  • Webinars
  • Immersive Family Experiences

Events

  • Global Travel Marketplace
  • GTM West
  • WAVE Awards
  • Future Leaders in Travel Retreat

Get Us in Your Inbox

I accept the T&C and Privacy Policy.

Search TravelAge West

Clear Field
Shane Nelson
Shane NelsonContributing Writer

Share

Are Non-Essential Travel Restrictions Actually Affecting Holiday Travel Plans?

Dec 14, 2020
Are Non-Essential Travel Restrictions Actually Affecting Holiday Travel Plans?
Travel advisors and suppliers are seeing some people cancel and others keep their holiday travel plans.
Credit: 2020 magdal3na/stock.adobe.com

During a phone call earlier this month with media outlets across the country, Dr. Cindy Friedman, chief of The Travelers’ Health Branch at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), urged Americans to avoid traveling. 

Get Us in Your Inbox

I accept the T&C and Privacy Policy.

“The safest thing to do is to postpone holiday travel and stay home,” Friedman said. “Travel volume was high over Thanksgiving, and even if only a small percentage of those travelers were asymptomatically infected, this can translate into hundreds of thousands of additional infections moving from one community to another. … We are trying to reduce the number of infections by postponing travel over the winter holiday.” 

State health officials across the nation have issued similar recommendations, including in California, where last month the state’s director of public health urged residents to “avoid non-essential travel to other states or countries” and asked those arriving — and returning — to California to “self-quarantine for 14 days.”

We are trying to reduce the number of infections by postponing travel over the winter holiday.


Jack Richards, president and CEO of Pleasant Holidays, said calls by state and national health officials to avoid travel in December have had a substantial impact on the wholesaler’s business.   

“We’re tracking 22 states that now have travel restrictions in place,” Richards said. “They’re all a little bit different — some are statewide, some are regional, but there’s no question it’s having an impact on holiday bookings for 2020. … Our Hawaii call volume is down 70% this week.” 

Regina Tait, owner of the TravelCom Travel Agency in Huntington Beach, Calif., said her business during December was not great to begin with, but new restrictions announced by California’s governor in recent weeks have resulted in cancellations. And one of Tait’s clients booked on a vacation to Mexico Dec. 17 recently postponed the trip over concerns about quarantining and missing work when she returned. 

“She can’t afford to quarantine for two weeks when she comes back,” Tait said of her client. “And it was a family trip, and her grown kids need to go to work, too.”

Even so, Tait noted that not all her California-based clients have decided to postpone or cancel vacations scheduled for later this month. But a broad demographic pattern became apparent when she looked over her agency data.

“About 60% percent of the people are still going, and 40% aren’t,” Tait said of her December bookings. “People that seem to be moving plans are more elderly and concerned about the virus. And the clients that have stayed on the books for December are pretty seasoned travelers that have already traveled during the pandemic.”

David Hu, president of Classic Vacations, said the luxury supplier has been focusing much of its efforts on bookings for next year, but the company has seen some of its short-term trips in 2020 rescheduled in recent days. Other folks are, however, sticking with their original travel plans, he said. 

“I’m not sure what the compliance is with the orders,” Hu said of COVID-19 guidance issued by state officials. “I think the segment that is predisposed to adhere to the orders will probably do so, and those who are not, won’t. … People are still traveling. We’re still seeing people hold their reservations, but there are people who are rescheduling.”

I think the segment that is predisposed to adhere to the orders will probably do so, and those who are not, won’t.


Dr. Timothy Brewer, a UCLA professor of infectious disease and epidemiology, said many health officials have instituted the far more restrictive policies because of the alarming rate of infection in California and across the country. 

“We’re clearly much worse off than we were back in the beginning of November or middle of October,” Brewer said. “You’ve seen in Los Angeles County and the state as a whole — and in fact in the country as a whole — an almost exponential growth in COVID-19 cases since October. It’s been nonstop going up, and that’s putting huge strain on our healthcare capacity and our public health systems.”

Brewer noted some California counties have exhausted their ICU capacity, and others are now stretched so thin that shifting healthcare professionals around the state to help is no longer an option. California was averaging about 3,000 new cases a day in October, according to Brewer, who said that number is now closer to 20,000 a day statewide.

“As bad as it is here, California is actually doing better than much of the country,” Brewer said. “Our case rates are about 60 per 100,000 … but compare that with North and South Dakota. They’re both over 100 cases per 100,000 people, and Minnesota is up around 100 cases per 100,000.” 

Ted Blank, the host agency manager at Minneapolis-based Travel Leaders’ Market Square Travel, said long-haul domestic trips and international vacations aren’t traditionally a big seller in the upper Midwest over the holidays, but he noted the regional, family-focused travel Minnesotans typically prefer in December is definitely down this year.

“We’ve seen more people deferring plans,” Blank said. “They’re not going to visit their family this year.”

Blank said, however, that he has noticed another trend among many of the folks who have decided to go ahead and take trips this year.

Usually, you see on Facebook pictures of family gatherings, but I think if folks are traveling, they’re keeping it on the down low.


“People who are traveling are keeping it pretty quiet,” he explained. “Usually, you see on Facebook pictures of family gatherings, but I think if folks are traveling, they’re keeping it on the down low. … I think there’s a fear you might run afoul of some government restriction and get in trouble. I think there’s a fear of employers who may have policies in place that prevent employees from traveling, and I also think it’s a fear of social media shaming.” 

Ray Snisky, group president of Apple Leisure Group (ALG) Vacations, said his company saw a spike in vacation cancellations a few weeks ago, but activity has since normalized, and ALG is now “exceeding our forecast with close-in bookings.” 

 “Internationally, we are seeing the largest market share of business continues to go to Cancun, followed by the Dominican Republic, Los Cabos and the rest of Mexico’s beaches,” Snisky said. “Domestically, it has been Las Vegas and now Hawaii with its reopening.”

Hawaii’s Lieutenant Governor Josh Green, who is also a practicing emergency room physician, said the Aloha State is paying close attention to the dramatic COVID-19 case surge on the U.S. mainland. But Green said the destination has no plans to suspend its current pretest plan for visitors, which allows travelers who provide proof of a negative test — taken no more than 72 hours before departure — to bypass Hawaii’s mandatory 14-day quarantine. 

“There will of course be fewer travelers because of the decision the California government made,” Green said. “California represents 38% of all travelers to the state of Hawaii. We were expecting a significant increase over the holidays, and now that number will certainly drop.” 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, TravelAge West will remain a trusted resource for our readers now and long after this crisis is over, and will continue to publish articles on a variety of travel industry topics, destinations and more to inspire future trips. If there’s something you’d like us to cover, please send a message to [email protected]

Tell Us What You Think! forum

Related Content

Here's How Families Are Feeling About Travel in 2021

Here's How Families Are Feeling About Travel in 2021

  • Most Read
  • Most Shared
  1. The Main Challenges to Booking Hawaii Travel Right Now
  2. CDC Requires Negative COVID-19 Test for Entry Into the U.S.
  3. 3 Luxurious Haciendas on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula
  4. Hotel Review: The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona
  5. Hotel Review: Vista Encantada Spa Resort & Residences
  1. CDC Requires Negative COVID-19 Test for Entry Into the U.S.
  2. What It's Like to Go on Safari Right Now
  3. Remembering Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, Founder of Sandals Resorts International
  4. What It's Like to Visit Walt Disney World Resort Right Now
  5. Here's Why Travel Advisors Should Be Booking Their Clients' Bucket-List Travels Now

More Stories Like This

Live Blog: Travel During the Age of the Coronavirus

Live Blog: Travel During the Age of the Coronavirus

WTTC Outlines Conservative and Optimistic Recovery Scenarios for 2021

WTTC Outlines Conservative and Optimistic Recovery Scenarios for 2021

TAW_210118_NEWS_PAGE IMAGE_SENIORS_SURVEY

New Research From Agoda Looks at 2021 Travel Desires

Private Travel: Why It's Increasingly Accessible and In Demand

Private Travel: Why It's Increasingly Accessible and In Demand

covid19testcdcjanuary26

CDC Requires Negative COVID-19 Test for Entry Into the U.S.

taw-need-to-know-1280x720010820

Need to Know Research: Advisors Are Taking a 'Wait-and-See' Approach to Cruising

Why the Georgia Election Results May Lead to More Federal Relief — And Soon

Why the Georgia Election Results May Lead to More Federal Relief — And Soon

COVIDRelief_HERO1222

The 6 Things to Know About the New $900 Billion Coronavirus Relief Package

sharecareverifiedforbesguide

Forbes Travel Guide's Health Security Platform Aims to Be the Global Standard

healthpassportcovidvaccinetravel

Will This Health Passport Be a Turning Point for the Industry?

TravelAge West

About TravelAge West

  • About Us
  • Contributors
  • Sales Team
  • Contact Us
  • My Profile

Advertise

  • Advertise With Us
  • Media Kit
  • Upload Ad Material
  • Digital Ad Specifications
  • Reprints
  • Subscribe to Print

Stay Connected to TravelAge West

Get Us in Your Inbox

I accept the T&C and Privacy Policy.


Northstar Travel Group

Northstar Travel Group

  • Travel Weekly
  • Travel Weekly Asia
  • Travel Weekly China
  • TravelPulse
  • TravelPulse Canada
  • TravelPulse Quebec
  • Meetings & Incentives
  • Travel Technology
  • Corporate Travel
  • Hotel Investment
  • Data Products
  • AGENTatHOME
Copyright © 2021 by Northstar Travel Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. 100 Lighting Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094-3626 USA | Telephone: (201) 902-2000
Load Carousel Here
Load Video Here