STAMFORD, Conn., May 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Summer travel
searches are heating up, with searches up as much as 70 percent
month over month (as of the last seven days). As pent-up demand for
travel takes flight, KAYAK is releasing its 'Return to Travel'
Hacker Guide focused on where to go as restrictions ease. Whether
you've been living the digital nomad lifestyle for the last year or
it's your first trip since the pandemic started, KAYAK's 2021
Travel Hacker Guide aims to help you navigate where to go, what's
open and how to craft that perfect out-of-office message for some
much-needed time away.
But, planning your first trip in over a year can be stressful,
so KAYAK created a "Matchmaker Quiz" that pairs you with a
destination on this year's Travel Hacker Guide based on factors
like how many vacation days you have and which trip you were most
bummed to cancel in 2020. Travelers will be matched with
destinations from one of three lists: the top 10 destinations
accepting vaccinated travelers (hello vaxication!), top 10
recommendations if you're flying solo (we know there are some of
you out there) and top 10 picks to finally take that group trip
that has been delayed for over a year.
On top of that, travel conditions are constantly changing (hint:
recent reopening news is causing searches for destinations in
Europe to spike and demand is
leading to major rental car price surges). To help travelers keep a
pulse on this, the guide also includes destinations seeing emerging
signs of interest, where to fly for a deal and prices on hotel
stays and rental cars.
"In the last couple of days, we've seen a huge surge in rental
car searches and prices compared to 2019, particularly in outdoorsy
spots like Florida, Alaska, Montana, and Hawaii," said Matt
Clarke, Vice President of North America Marketing at KAYAK.
"If you're considering one of these destinations for your next
trip, we recommend booking your rental car about two months in
advance before prices start to increase."
Key highlights from this year's guide include:
- The Caribbean is calling
all Vaxicationers. Looking at the last 7 days, the Caribbean is showing great signs of recovery
with travel search interest down only 16 percent compared to the
same in 2019, likely due to eased restrictions for vaccinated U.S.
travelers announced earlier than most places. In fact, out of the
top 10 most searched for destinations open to U.S. tourists, five
are within the Caribbean including
Cancun, Punta Cana, Montego
Bay, Aruba and The
Bahamas.
- Solo travelers are headed South. Despite the pandemic,
interest in solo travel is still top of mind for many with 68
percent of searches for solo travel in the first three months of
2021, particularly to South
America. This is likely due to eased restrictions and wallet
friendly airfare prices, which are down 14 percent over the last 7
days (4.27 - 5.3) compared to the same time period in 2019 - the
cheapest of any region. Cartagena,
Lima and Medellin in particular are attracting the
largest number of solo travelers with at least 80% of flight
searches for one person to all three cities.
- Group travel is booming. Whether it's your group of best
friends or a family of 3+, groups are reuniting in places with sun,
sand and warm weather - not to mention plenty of outdoor
activities. Las Vegas,
Orlando and Honolulu are among the most searched for
destinations for parties of three or more.
- Americans are eager to travel overseas. Recent news that
vaccinated American tourists will likely be able to visit the EU
this summer caused travel searches on KAYAK to spike indicating
Americans are eager for borders to reopen and travel overseas. Even
prior to the news, some European destinations were starting to pop,
European destinations that saw the biggest spike in searches month
over month for travel anytime include Dubrovnik (searches up 205
percent), Zurich (searches up 167
percent), Prague (searches up 144
percent) and Reykjavik (searches
up 143 percent).
-
- KAYAK has teamed up with Veritas to provide frictionless access
to at-home COVID-19 testing kits for international travelers at
preferred pricing.
The company also updated its out-of-office generator to get you
off the couch and into vacation mode. Simply input answers like why
you're traveling, your cocktail of choice and how often you will be
checking email (i.e. are you completely disconnected and loving it
or checking in occasionally?) and KAYAK will auto generate a fun
out-of-office response to match the vibe of your upcoming trip.
For a full list of destinations in this year's 'Return to
Travel' Hacker Guide, check out the guide here:
https://www.kayak.com/travelhacker.
About KAYAK
KAYAK, part of Booking Holdings
(NASDAQ: BKNG), is the world's leading travel search engine.
With billions of queries across our platforms, we help people find
their perfect flight, stay, rental car, cruise, or vacation
package. We're also transforming the in-travel experience with our
app and new accommodation software. For more information, visit
www.KAYAK.com.
Travel Hacker Guide Methodology
For all data pulled
from the THG, methodology can be found here.
Media Contact:
Kayla
Inserra
PR Director
KAYAK
kinserra@kayak.com
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SOURCE KAYAK