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Today's Takeaways From SCT's director of marketing systems & insights, Ariane Hiltebrand

Last week’s traveler sentiment update by Destination Analysts reveals that American travelers are experiencing a slight uptick in concerns this week over recent news about variants, Europe’s third wave, and spring break crowds in Florida. However, nearly 40% of travelers report having received a vaccine, which results in increased planning and booking activity.

Tracking the Long-Term Impacts of the Pandemic on Travel As of March 21, 2021

Destination Analysts Key Findings to Know From Destination Analysts' Travel Sentiment Report

Those highly concerned about their friends and family contracting the virus rose to 71.0% and 63.3% of American travelers are highly concerned about personally contracting COVID-19. Such concern is higher among women, Millennials, urban dwellers, and those residing in the West and Northeast regions of the U.S. Americans’ high concern about the pandemic’s impact on our national economy may play a role in their feelings towards tourism in their own communities. Among the 46.1% of American travelers who report they would be happy to see an ad promoting tourism to their town of residence, by far the most common reason for this is that it would help local businesses (64.8%). 38.3% of those who have or are expecting a stimulus check say they are likely to spend some portion of it on leisure travel. This is even more prevalent among Millennial age travelers, who are, in fact, twice as likely as Boomer age travelers to spend their stimulus money on travel. With nearly two-thirds both in a ready-to-travel mindset and highly open to travel inspiration, a 2021 record-high 73.8% of American travelers did some travel planning and dreaming in the last week alone. 15.8% said they made a travel reservation in the last week. In each of the months from May through October, over 20% of American travelers report having at least tentative trip plans. 43.9% of air travelers deem flying on a commercial airline as safe. Over 45% of air travelers say their very next trip by commercial airline will be by the end of Summer. About four-in-ten American travelers expect they will be sticking closer to home and spending less on their leisure travel in the coming years.

Website Insights for sonomacounty.com

During the period of March 12-18, 2021, the top content that people were engaging with on the website was: coronavirus page, restaurants, wineries and outdoor content: Bodega Bay, 13 wineries you should know, hot springs, mustard fields, glamping and unique inns, several itineraries such as the 48 hours getaways series, resorts on the Russian River, and biking. Our blog saw traffic for restaurants with views, wineries making olive oil, what to expect when visiting now, black owned businesses, what to expect after the fires. San Francisco is #1 and represents 14% of the total traffic this past week. San José is #3, Los Angeles is #4, Sacramento is #5, Oakland is #8. We see 4 out-of-state cities in the top 25: New York, Chicago, Seattle, and Reno.

STR Tracking for Sonoma County

Things to Note:  This is the first week compared to last year that hotels were closed due to the pandemic. Please note the percentages will continue to be comparatively high in the coming weeks and months.  STR is comparing “Weekly Year Over Year.” 52 of the county’s 125 hotels report to STR. The average from other destinations includes: Napa, Palm Springs, Monterey, South Lake Tahoe, and Vallejo/Napa Valley. For more information on how data is calculated due to hotel closures, please refer to this document.

Smith Travel Research (STR) is the recognized leader in hospitality industry benchmarking around the globe. Powered by the world's largest hotel data sample, they deliver confidential data, accurate and actionable insights, and comprehensive solutions to empower decisions. Discover how STR collects data, how it is calculated, and a glossary of terms, by clicking here.