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

This week’s traveler sentiment update by Destination Analysts reveals that American travelers display pandemic-era record levels of travel readiness and confidence in travel safety. Many travelers are in the planning and booking phase and are receptive to travel inspiration and advertising.

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

Although coronavirus cases are rising in nearly half of the U.S., Americans’ COVID anxiety grew only mildly. Even in the Midwest, which is particularly affected by the latest growth in cases, levels of COVID concern remained relatively stable; in fact, it is those in the Northeast who continue to exhibit the highest levels of COVID concerns. Ongoing vaccinations combined with optimism about the future have contributed to another week of record setting in travel readiness and safety. Americans’ confidence in their ability to travel safely reached a pandemic record, as did the perception of travel activities as safe. Now 72% say they are in a ready-to-travel mindset—up nearly 20 percentage points since the start of the year. Three-quarters of American travelers did some travel planning and dreaming in the past week alone, with 16.4% actually making a reservation or booking. Of these bookers, over half made a hotel reservation, nearly a fifth reserved a vacation home/Airbnb and a third bought airline tickets. Over 75% of American travelers will take at least one trip in the next 3 months, and a record 88% have at least tentative travel plans for the future. Americans are also showing that they are open to even more travel beyond what they may currently have planned. Nearly two-thirds have a high excitement level about the prospect of a trip they had not previously considered, and similarly 63.4% are highly open to travel inspiration right now. Americans are demonstrating increased happiness on seeing their own communities advertised for tourism, reflecting a larger trend in support of travel. Well over half of those who took a road trip in the pandemic era say their experience has made travel by car more appealing—a sentiment that is even stronger among Millennial and younger travelers. The road trip is likely to sustain its popularity as travel recovers. There continues to be more good news about still-slow-but-recovering business travel. Now 56% of those employed by companies in which there is business travel say that this travel has resumed, up 8 percentage points from last month. Perhaps most importantly, the extent of the perceived lasting changes to business travel appears to be retreating.

Events and Meetings Update From SCT's group business development manager, Samantha Paull

Insights As we track the return of in-person meetings and events, we wanted to share some recent sentiment from Destination Analysist:

Meeting Trends   Successful Meetings recently shared insights on trends in food and beverage, and while not specifically tied to state guidance, the key trend takeaways include: Transparency: Open kitchen and visible precautions, such as masks, gloves, plexi divides, etc. Seating: Outdoor continues to be ideal, spaced in creative settings that allow for safe interaction. Plated Meal: Safety being a priority, a covered plate arriving to the guest is ideal and can add an element of surprise and excitement when delivering a well-plated, beautiful entrée. Hors d’ Oeuvres: As a play on the reception buffet, create individual mini cheese boards and charcuterie plates. Reusable: Reduced risk from surfaces is allowing the return of reusables (if continuing with disposable, bamboo and palm leaf or other visually pleasing compostable options offer a more earth-friendly approach). Variety: A popular option has been to offer variety by partnering with local restaurants for a “pop up” at the event, giving guests the chance to taste local cuisine. Healthy “Immune Boosting” Menus: Main meals and snack breaks are taking a healthier approach (juices, infused water, acai bows, etc.). Mocktails: Reducing risk of ignoring safety protocols by not serving alcohol and risking intoxication, mocktails allow for inclusion of inviting, creative beverage selection. Meal Breaks: To avoid crowding, programs will need to be thoughtful of allowing ample time for meal breaks, such as: staggered meal breaks or set up in multiple spaces. We will continue to share insights and trends as they arise, as well as updates to the event guidance as those are available. We truly appreciate the opportunity to partner with you and your team in our united effort to showcase Sonoma County. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Group Business Development team if we can be of additional support.

Website Insights for sonomacounty.com

During the period of April 9-15, 2021, the top content that people were engaging with on the website was: homepage, digital guide and print map order page, coronavirus page, wineries, outdoor activities, and food and wine content. Our blog saw traffic for black owned businesses, what to expect when visiting after the fires (!), vegan friendly road trip, Earth Day, and bike rides. San Francisco is #1 and represents 14% of the total traffic this past week. San José is #3, Los Angeles is #4, Oakland moved up to #6, Sacramento moved down to #7. We see 3 out-of-state cities in the top 25: New York, Chicago, and Seattle.

STR Tracking for Sonoma County

Things to Note:  This is the fifth week compared to last year that hotels were closed due to the pandemic. Please note 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 127 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.