If you’re a wanderluster who’s itching to once again get back on the roads and in the skies, you’ve got company. A new travel industry analysis from Comscore shows an upswing in consumer interest across several travel categories, a sign that the industry may be getting its groove back.
In the early and peak stages of the pandemic, Comscore’s Media Metrix shows that visits to travel sites were down by as much as 70 percent from the beginning of the year. However, a fresh analysis of May’s data shows that the momentum is now swinging upward, at least for airline, accommodations, and online travel agent sites.
Comscore found that it’s the vacation rental and budget hotel sites that are driving the increase in traffic to the hotel and vacation rental category, not the major hoteliers. Those two segments improved by 40 points and 18 points, respectively. Meanwhile, the major hotel chains have collectively only improved three points.
Airlines are picking up again, too
Drilling down Comscore’s data for a look at airline websites, ConsumerAffairs found that the average time a consumer spent on one of those sites has eclipsed 13 minutes per visitor -- a definite increase from prior to the pandemic
Airline stocks are also destined for a new high. CNBC reports that the NYSE Arca Airline Index, which tracks 16 airlines, is up nearly 50 percent this week, qualifying for its biggest weekly percentage gain ever.
In early Friday trading, American Airlines took a 23 percent leap, United Airlines was a touch over 15 percent higher, and Delta Air Lines was up 8 percent.