LANGLEY, England, Nov. 8,
2021 /PRNewswire/ -- After nearly two years, today, the
US has reopened its borders to fully vaccinated international
travelers arriving via air from the 26 Schengen countries in
Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, China, India,
South Africa, Iran and Brazil. Research from the US
Travel Association estimated that for every week that
international travel restrictions were in place, the US economy
lost out on $1.5 billion in spending
just from Canada, the European
Union and the U.K. alone. Travelport, a global technology company
that powers travel bookings for hundreds of airlines and thousands
of hotels worldwide, today released the below trend data
highlighting the world's excitement to return to the US.
Recovery Impact
- In the last month, flight bookings to destinations
across the USA reached 70% of
pre-pandemic levels. International travel accounted for
52%.
- With the US closed to international tourists for the past 21
months, visitors are eager to travel to the US now. The most
popular month for international travelers to visit the US is
November 2021, followed
closely by December 2021. The most
popular departure date for US-bound international flights is today,
November 8th – the
first day restrictions lifted.
U.K. Most Excited to Visit US
- Following President Biden's first travel announcement
(September 20th) which
stated that fully vaccinated travelers from the U.K. and the EU
would be allowed to enter starting November, travelers from the
U.K. were the most excited to visit. Within 24 hours of the
announcement, US-bound flights originating from the U.K. were
searched more than US-bound flights from all other European
countries, combined.
- Flight bookings followed a similar trend, with travelers in the
U.K. booking more US-bound flights than travelers in
Germany, Italy, Spain,
France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland and Denmark combined.
- After President Biden's second announcement (October 15th) when even more countries
were added to the approved list, the U.K. stayed on top as the
number one country searching and booking flights to the US,
resulting in a 108% increase in bookings from the week prior
to the first announcement.
- In the 24 hours following each announcement, US-bound flight
bookings from the U.K. for the 2021 Thanksgiving weekend increased
by 1,600% and 2,200% respectively.
- The top five US destinations for Brits are Orlando, New
York, Miami, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Global Travel Trends Emerging
- Following behind the U.K., the countries that booked the most
flights to the US were Germany,
France, Italy and Spain.
- The top five US-destinations booked by international travelers
are New York, Miami, Los
Angeles, Orlando, and
San Francisco.
- Specifically, New York,
Los Angeles and Miami are top destinations for travelers
originating from France,
Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Greece and South Africa.
- Couples and families were the most ready to get away,
with an increase in flight bookings of 108% and 65%, respectively,
following the second announcement.
For more trend data or travel insights, please contact the PR
team at Travelport.
Notes for Editors:
- All search and booking data is derived from Travelport's travel
retailing platform.
- All search data is derived from Travelport's shopping request
platform. It reflects the first origin and first destination of any
search string.
- Travelport's air booking data has been compiled to show the
impact of the two recent US travel announcements (September 20th and October 15th) on international travel
to the US.
About Travelport:
Travelport is a global technology
company that powers bookings for hundreds of thousands of travel
suppliers worldwide. Buyers and sellers of travel are connected by
the company's next generation marketplace, Travelport+, which
simplifies how brands connect, upgrades how travel is sold, and
enables modern digital retailing. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom and operating in more
than 180 countries around the world, Travelport is focused on
driving innovation that simplifies the complex travel
ecosystem.
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SOURCE Travelport International Operations Limited