Yes, Americans Are Longing for Lost Vacation Time

With summer fully underway, many Americans are making up for lost time and finally taking that long-dreamed about vacation. According to Allianz Partners USA's 13th annual Vacation Confidence Index, Americans are more confident than ever that they'll vacation sometime this year, with more than six in 10 saying they will take a trip of at least seven days to a destination 100 miles away from home.

According to the travel insurance and assistance company's consumer survey, 63% of Americans are confident they'll take a vacation in 2021, up from 37% in 2020 (49% in 2019). Not only has confidence increased, but the importance of an annual vacation has never been higher, with 73% of Americans stating a vacation is important to them (an increase of 9 percentage points since 2020, 13 since 2019 and up 15 percentage point since 2018). 

After a year of lockdown and travel restrictions, the pandemic has triggered an array of emotional, physical and economic issues, and Americans are realizing now more than ever that taking time away from work or the stresses of daily life can give them the break they need to return to their lives refreshed and better equipped to handle whatever comes.

The percentage of Americans who are experiencing a vacation deficit has dropped to 20% this year, compared to 44% in 2020, during the height of the pandemic. A vacation deficit is defined as Americans who think that an annual vacation is important, but who are not confident that they will take one this year.

While the pandemic largely thwarted vacation plans over the last year, the American phenomenon of underutilizing vacation days continues to hold true: according to the survey, more than half (56%) of respondents haven't vacationed in over a year, up five points since 2019 (51%). The survey also revealed that for more than a quarter of Americans, it's been more than two years since their last week-long leisure trip. Additionally, two in 10 (22%) Americans have taken a vacation in the past three months.

Although Allianz travel insurance products generally do not cover known, foreseeable, or expected events, epidemics, government prohibitions, warnings, or travel advisories, or fear of travel, earlier this year Allianz Partners USA announced the rollout of its new Epidemic Coverage Endorsement, which adds enhancements for new purchasers of some of its travel insurance products that may provide coverage to customers who become ill with COVID-19 or a future epidemic, are individually ordered to quarantine, or are denied boarding due to a suspected illness. This new coverage formalizes and adds to some of the temporary accommodations the company put into place in March 2020 to assist travelers who had been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.