More Americans Plan Extended Trips for Labor Day, But COVID Concerns Rise Among Those Staying Put
Nearly 2 in 5 respondents to a recent Cars.com survey said they plan to travel more than 50 miles round trip for Labor Day weekend in 2021. The survey, fielded July 30 to 1,014 U.S. adults, found 37% of all respondents indicated plans to travel more than 50 miles for the upcoming holiday weekend. That’s up substantially versus the 30% of respondents surveyed before the Fourth of July holiday weekend who indicated plans to travel more than 50 miles.
Related: More Kids Headed Back to School, But Many to Avoid the Bus
Both holidays are de facto three-day weekends in 2021 — most businesses observed Monday, July 5, as a holiday this year, while Labor Day always falls on a Monday — but they come at widely different moments in the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid relaxed pandemic restrictions, Independence Day in many parts of the country charted widespread hope that summer 2021 would see vaxcations, concerts, spectator sports and so much more.
With spiking caseloads from the new delta variant, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended such hopes. Roughly 2 in 5 respondents to both our Fourth of July and Labor Day surveys indicated plans to stay put, but the pandemic played vastly different roles in the why. During the Fourth of July survey, less than half (44%) of those who didn’t plan to travel said the COVID-19 had at least some impact on their decision. Now, nearly 3 in 5 (57%) of those staying put for Labor Day indicated at least some COVID-19 concern.
Nonetheless, those who planned to travel in 2021 aim to crank up the distance. Sixty-three percent of respondents who plan to travel for Labor Day said they intend to go farther this year than they did for Labor Day 2020; 62% of travel-intending respondents said the same for the Fourth of July, as did 57% of travel-intending respondents to Cars.com’s Memorial Day survey.
Vehicles, unsurprisingly, comprise the vast majority of transportation. Eighty-seven percent of respondents who intend to travel this Labor Day weekend indicated plans to drive, versus 14% who said they would fly. That’s down, if just slightly, versus the 90% of would-be travelers in Cars.com’s Fourth of July survey who planned to drive. Back then, just 9% of travel-intending respondents said they would fly.
More From Cars.com:
- 2021 New York Auto Show Canceled, Citing COVID-19 Delta Variant
- How Long Will the Vehicle Inventory Shortage Last?
- Amid Inventory Shortage, Used Prices Approach New
- Now Is a Good Time to Sell Your Extra Used Car; Here’s Why
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
