Americans More Likely to Spend Christmas Holiday With Loved Ones, but Plans Are Still Largely Altered

CivicScience data from early December indicate that largely, Americans’ holidays will look a lot more normal than last year’s. However, Omicron is still driving many to stay put to stay safe.

2021 Holiday Celebrations 

Nearly two times more people intend to spend the Christmas holiday with friends / family this year than in 2020. The same data point was observed in survey results about the recent Thanksgiving holiday.

2021 Holiday Travel

While usual holiday travelers are more than twice as likely to travel this year for the holidays compared to last year, more than one-third still say it’s unlikely that they’ll do so.

The recent discovery of the Omicron variant is certainly a key factor in why more than one-third of the usual travelers won’t be traveling this year.

Only one-fifth of adults have already purchased or plan to purchase a flight for holiday travel, which is two times that of flight purchases in 2020 but still low in the grand scheme of things.

And while the holiday is certainly looking and feeling brighter – and more optimistic – than the 2020 holiday season, more than half of adults still expect the pandemic will impact or alter their holiday plans and traditions.

Stay tuned for more data on holiday airline travel reluctance, plus product shortages impacting holiday buying, later this week.