The coronavirus pandemic has upended the travel industry worldwide, and it’s unclear when travel and tourism will get back to normal. The consequences of a travel slowdown this summer will be felt harder in some cities, especially America’s most popular summer destinations that rely on crowds of tourists to pump money into the local economy.
To determine which travel destinations would be most affected by a summer slowdown caused by the COVID-19 crisis, the LendingTree data team analyzed the airline traffic patterns during the summer months (designated as June, July and August for the purpose of this study) of the top 100 destinations with the most annual passengers. We then ranked which cities would be most affected by the pandemic based on the amount of travel a city received during the summer months as the pandemic continues to disrupt travel plans versus the non-summer months.
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Vacationing amid the coronavirus pandemic: What to know
The year 2020 has been unpredictable thus far, and that probably won’t change anytime soon. Summer travel plans that were booked months or years in advance are now in limbo, although more than half of Americans have already delayed their upcoming vacations due to coronavirus fears, according to a ValuePenguin survey.
Another indicator that Americans plan to vacation less this summer is the decreased interest in loans that may be used to cover vacation expenses. Interest in vacation and wedding loans dropped by 76% between Jan. 5 and May 10, 2020 according to LendingTree personal loan inquiry data.
However, some Americans are moving forward with travel plans this summer. People who are eager to get out of their homes but still want to practice safe social distancing practices may choose road trip destinations to avoid the close proximity to strangers that comes with flying. There’s even been a spike in summer RV rentals, according to RVshare, a peer-to-peer RV rental marketplace.
But the coronavirus pandemic will make it all but impossible to enjoy the social activities that were once synonymous with traveling ー attending live events, grabbing a pint at local pubs and dining out at cozy restaurants.
Most importantly, there are still reports of COVID-19 cases in every state, and the Centers for Disease Control recommends that tourists do the proper research necessary to ensure a safe journey, emphasizing that “travel increases your chances of getting and spreading COVID-19.” As of June 1, the CDC still recommends against all nonessential travel.
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As some states begin to reopen, others extend stay-at-home orders
Since the coronavirus pandemic is affecting different regions of the country in different ways, it’s impossible to definitively advise that all Americans should either cancel or keep their summer vacation plans.
A few states, including Delaware and Illinois, have stay-at-home orders through the end of May. Virginia and the District of Columbia have the longest stay-at-home orders, which will be in effect until June 10 and June 8, respectively. Before booking or going through with your summer travel plans, be sure to check the CDC website for guidance, as well as any local Chamber of Commerce websites that will have guidance on municipal regulations.
Even if the area to which you are traveling has lifted stay-at-home regulations, that doesn’t necessarily make it safe for you to travel from your home state (or through other states).
If your finances have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, visit www.lendingtree.com/coronavirus for resources, tips and information about how to manage your money during this time.
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Methodology
In order to rank the cities most vulnerable to a summer slowdown in airline traffic, we first took a list of the 100 cities with the most annual passengers arriving to local airports. We then compared the average monthly passengers during summer months, which we designated as June, July and August, and compared it to the average monthly passengers in the other nine months. We ranked the states from highest to lowest based on the largest percent change from non-summer to summer. Data comes from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and is for 2019.
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21. Denver
Average airline passengers in summer months: 3,079,932
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 2,566,674
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 20.0%
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
20. Reno, Nevada
Average airline passengers in summer months: 205,415
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 170,609
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 20.4%
Image Credit: Deposit Photos.
19. Sanford, Florida
Average airline passengers in summer months: 145,413
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 120,709
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 20.5%
Image Credit: Sean Pavone/istockphoto.
18. Lihue, Hawaii
Average airline passengers in summer months: 153,269
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 127,031
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 20.7%
Image Credit: GlowingEarth/istockphoto.
17. Cleveland
Average airline passengers in summer months: 465,764
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 385,330
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 20.9%
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
16. Cincinnati
Average airline passengers in summer months: 415,134
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 342,967
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 21.0%
Image Credit: iStock/Scott Meyer.
15. Fayetteville, Arkansas
Average airline passengers in summer months: 85,582
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 70,641
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 21.2%
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14. Portland, Oregon
Average airline passengers in summer months: 904,357
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 743,390
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 21.7%
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13. Minneapolis
Average airline passengers in summer months: 1,697,694
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 1,392,042
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 22.0%
Image Credit: StevenGaertner/istockphoto.
12. Savannah, Georgia
Average airline passengers in summer months: 141,616
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 115,488
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 22.6%
Image Credit: f11photo.
11. Pensacola, Florida
Average airline passengers in summer months: 107,678
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 87,449
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 23.1%
Image Credit: Andrew Zarivny/shutterstock.
10. San Francisco
Average airline passengers in summer months: 1,992,309
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 1,609,355
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 23.8%
Image Credit: EarthScapeImageGraphy/istockphoto.
9. Knoxville, Tennessee
Average airline passengers in summer months: 121,351
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 97,986
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 23.8%
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
8. Kahului, Hawaii
Average airline passengers in summer months: 353,169
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 283,685
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 24.5%
Image Credit: 7Michael/istockphoto.
7. Colorado Springs, Colorado
Average airline passengers in summer months: 84,552
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 67,146
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 25.9%
Image Credit: Deposit Photos.
6. Norfolk, Virginia
Average airline passengers in summer months: 200,765
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 158,231
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 26.9%
Image Credit: Deposit Photos.
5. Kona, Hawaii
Average airline passengers in summer months: 180,748
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 141,775
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 27.5%
Image Credit: CampPhoto/istockphoto.
4. Seattle
Average airline passengers in summer months: 2,226,370
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 1,741,057
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 27.9%
Image Credit: iStock/apichart.
3. Portland, Maine
Average airline passengers in summer months: 117,367
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 81,008
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 44.9%
Image Credit: jiawangkun/shutterstock.
2. Anchorage, Alaska
Average airline passengers in summer months: 333,614
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 183,071
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 82.2%
Image Credit: Chilkoot/iStock.
1. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Average airline passengers in summer months: 178,284
Average airline passengers in non-summer months: 89,436
Percentage difference in airline passengers (summer vs. non-summer months): 99.3%
This article originally appeared on LendingTree.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
