Month by month more and more people are hitting the sky’s for their next vacation.
Recent TSA screening numbers show a steady increase since the new year and has topped 1 million screened passengers per day for the last 10 days straight. This is the first time since the pandemic hit in 2020 that this has happened. (see screenshot from the TSA website below):
What’s fueling the demand? A few things, for starters March is a very popular month for leisure travel, with many colleges and universities releasing students for spring break. The Covid-19 vaccine is being rolled out, with more Americans being vaccinated by the day, more travelers are comfortable hitting the sky. Lastly, pent up demand from a lack of travel over the last year. Many Americans were forced to skip their vacation plans in 2020, this has caused a bit of eager travelers to hit their next vacation spot.
For contrast on March 20th 2019 2.5 million passengers were screened in U.S. airports, compare that to only 560,000 on March 20th of last year. Fast forward to 2021, this past March 20th TSA screened just under 1.5 million passengers.
Numbers are still down 40% from 2019, but nearly triple what they were in 2020.
This is encouraging sign for the travel industry, with airlines and resorts becoming very accustom to the increased safety guidelines it’s renewing confidence that one can travel safely.
We will continue to monitor the data in the coming weeks.
One thing to keep in mind is that prices will rise as demand rises as well, it’s the classic law of supply and demand, with more travelers booking their next vacation, the rooms rates and air ticket costs will rise with it.
Check out more on this story and other travel news in our most recent podcast: