How severe weather, tourist deaths have affected summer travel
Tornado tear through your summer vacation? Summer heat wave melting travel plans? Record-breaking weather, troubling reports of tourist deaths, and growing financial concerns have forecast Summer 2019 travel trends.
How’s the Weather?
Cape Cod was hit hard on Tuesday with a regionally uncharacteristic tornado, leaving tens of thousands without power. Vacationers at The Cape Sands Inn in popular summer spot Yarmouth, MA were subject to weather conditions of Hollywood proportions when strong wind gusts ripped the hotel roof off.
“It was like something out of the ‘Wizard of Oz.’ Being from this city, I never saw anything like this,” a hotel guest said. “First time I went through it and I hope I never have to go through it again.”
Hotel management reported that guests were temporarily re-housed in local hotels.
Earlier this summer, millions across the U.S. also faced record-breaking heatwaves and severe weather, with heat advisories, leaving whole communities without power in the heat. This comes only one week after the nation’s largest city, New York was hit with a blackout, putting at least 53,000 citizens and business in the dark.
Travel Insurance Purchases Up
20 percent more travelers have purchased travel insurance for trips during the months of June, July, and August 2019 compared to the same months in 2018, according to a PRNewsWire report. According to the report, specific Hurricane & Weather coverage this summer increased by 19 percent, specifically for travelers heading to Mexico and the Bahamas.
International and Domestic Travel Trends
Mysterious tourist deaths in the Dominican Republic and 19 alcohol-related deaths in Costa Rica, eclipsed travel to these locations and neighboring paradises.
Political unrest in Puerto Rico with the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló reportedly expected, resulting in cruise liners canceling their stops in San Juan has also discouraged the usual influx of tourists during the summer.
“We’re not sending them to Costa Rica, Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic,“ HotelPlanner.com CEO Tim Hentschel told FOX Business's Neil Cavuto, on Tuesday. “Occupancies are down by double digits there.”
The U.S. Travel Association reported that Continental U.S. and domestic travel increased 2.8 percent earlier this year, but overall travel is expected to decrease for Americans.
“Growth is expected to decelerate in the case of domestic travel while international inbound travel is projected to remain soft,” U.S. Travel Senior Vice President for Research David Huether said, “This is consistent with an expectation of stable-yet-moderating economic growth both in the U.S. and globally.”
Traveler Spending
Despite issues with travel, PRNewswire reported that traveler spending remained the same with the average cost for a trip to the 10 most popular destinations at $6,855.
A growing trend in the gig-economy is ‘micro-cations’ or mini-vacations of less than 5 days. According to the 2019 Vacation Confidence Index, released by Allianz Global Assistance, 57 percent of Americans did not take a vacation longer than four nights last year. The survey attributed the trend to high costs associated with vacation and lack of paid time off from work. Particularly, 72 percent of Millennials mentioned they take “micro-cations”, compared to 69 percent of Gen X-ers and 60 percent of Baby Boomers, the same study reported.
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Regardless of how they vacation, Americans plan to find time to getaway this summer whether a stay-cation or a great escape.