The U S Travel Association and 75 trade allies have launched a campaign intended to "reignite America's sense of wanderlust and reinstate the feeling of anticipation" through the planning now of post-COVID-19 trips.
Campaign will run at least until 2021 on national network TV, radio, streaming platforms and in online ads
USTA has developed a toolkit that tourism businesses can download, which includes logos, graphics, copy for various media channels, and a style guide. Videos are also available for download, and there's a campaign website at https://www.letsgothere.travel/ .
Per USTA, the rationale for this campaign is that "planning travel creates happiness" and is based on survey research done by "happiness researchers" at the Institute for Applied Positive Research which found:
- 97% of respondents said having a trip planned makes them happier.
- 71% said they have greater levels of energy knowing they have a trip planned in the next 6 months.
When survey participants were asked to describe the ideal vacation during the pandemic, top 3 responses were:
- Relaxing vacation
- Shorter than a week
- Domestic destination
Researchers surveyed 263 US resident adults aged 18+ during 21-24 August 2020.
This is an interesting concept, but if it works, could it work too well? If people start now to research and plan trips - and perhaps get made happy in the process - will they be able to defer gratification until travel is safer, in 2021, 2022, 2023 or beyond?
Stay tuned.
