Beach Town U.S.A.
The Fourth of July weekend is typically a time when many Americans gather with family and friends to celebrate their independence from tyranny. Sadly this year, for those needing to get away, options are limited as coronavirus cases climb and border controls go into effect around the world and across state lines.
Forget strolling along the Seine or kayaking British Columbia. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are quarantining travelers from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Nevada, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Some states have closed beaches, canceled events and imposed curfews, and several major airlines are packing planes full, ignoring social distancing guidelines and adding to the anxiety of an already skittish flying public.
“People are staying close to home,” said Gillian Tans, chair of Booking.com, at the virtual tech conference Collision From Home last week. Reporting an increase in domestic and local travel from 45% to 70%, she added, “A lot of my friends are booking cabins and staying in places they can drive to safely.”
Hussein Fazal, co-founder and CEO of SnapTravel, an AI assistant that books hotels over messaging, concurred, “Our data is showing the average distance to destinations is falling. In June, Americans were traveling 319 miles, down from an average of 484 miles before the pandemic.”
California hotel bookings from December 2019 through June 2020
“If you look at this heatmap which compares Californians traveling this July 4th holiday weekend to last summer, you can see the dramatic shift away from popular attractions across the country to local points of interest in Southern California,” said Fazal.
Californians' hotel bookings, July 4, 2019 and July 4, 2020
Where to go? What to do?
Providing an exclusive in-depth look at their aggregated travel data, Fazal shared with me SnapTravel’s Top 10 Destinations comparing U.S. bookings worldwide for the weekend of July 4, 2020 to the same period last year. It showed that while Las Vegas continues to be the number one vacation spot for Americans, Florida now dominates half the list.
Orlando is holding steadfast at number two, even with Walt Disney World closed. Nearby theme parks are drawing tourists with attractions like The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, and for those craving fireworks, Sea World and Legoland are promising spectacular shows.
Miami has jumped to third place, and although New York City and Chicago remain on the list, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio have been replaced by St. Petersburg, Key West, Kissimmee Lake, Atlantic City and San Diego. People are seeking sun, sand and surf of seaside resorts while steering clear of crowded big cities where indoor activities like shopping, dining and clubbing are still restricted.
Beach towns replaced cities as most popular July 4th destinations
There were also sharp upticks in business for beach towns that have been off the radar, including six in Florida: Daytona Beach, Panama City, Captiva, Marco Island, Fort Meyers and St. Petersburg.
The biggest surge in hotel bookings for the July 4th holiday weekend has been in beach towns
The most interesting finding is that this surge in bookings comes amid widespread reporting of Florida experiencing record highs in new COVID-19 cases.
People concerned about safety are getting creative. Adam Carey, a Bay Area tech executive at the imaging sharing site, Imgur, made different plans. “I’m dining with my wife at a little Parisien table next to a fire pit in my backyard while watching Hamilton projected onto my garden wall.”
Across the country, Nick Chester, publicist for Epic Games, shared the same sentiment as Jacqui Collins, a marketing and events producer for Riot Games in Los Angeles, “I’m staying home because it’s a pandemic.”
