Today's Takeaways
From SCT's director of marketing systems & insights, Ariane Hiltebrand
I’m excited to share with you Sonoma County Tourism’s new public data dashboard available on the statistics page of our website. The dashboard, generated by Tourism Economics, pulls data from STR, AirDNA, and the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport. Select charts are featured in today’s newsletter, but I invite you to explore the entire dashboard at sonomacounty.com/statistics.

This week’s traveler sentiment update by Destination Analysts reveals that more than 50% of American travelers feel confident in their ability to travel safely now (a pandemic record high!). However, there are opportunities for improvement on the part of travel service providers. Due to tourism workforce issues and certain ongoing restrictions, over 40% of travelers agreed that, due to the pandemic, businesses in the travel industry appeared to be having trouble providing adequate service to travelers.
Destination Analysts Key Findings to Know
From Destination Analysts' Travel Sentiment Report
  • The proportion of American travelers who say they will be avoiding international trips reached a pandemic-low of 58.8%.

  • The avoidance of conventions and conferences also reached a pandemic-low (51.7%).

  • 37.4% of travelers who plan to take a leisure trip in the next 3 months say they will be visiting cities and urban areas, on par with rural and beach destination performance.

  • Of those who have been inoculated, 87.3% are more comfortable with the idea of traveling.

  • Nearly 77% of American travelers say they are in a ready-to-travel mindset.

  • In the last week, 18.7% of American travelers made a travel booking and/or reservation, primarily hotels (56.9% of travel bookers) and airline tickets (43.5% of travel bookers, up from 32.5% last week).

  • Americans report they will take an average of 2.3 leisure trips over the next 3 months.

  • This week, Instagram appeared in the top 5 channels travelers say they are most receptive to destination promotion in and online travel agencies like Expedia are back among the most frequently utilized resources.

  • Disagreement with the statement “I don’t want travelers in my community right now reached a record-high 30.1%.

  • Although 24.5% agree that recent gas price increases and shortages have led them to change or cancel Memorial Day travel, right now, nearly a quarter (22.6%) of American travelers say they will take a trip for the holiday this year. The average Memorial Day trip will last 3.5 days and take the traveler 534 miles from home. Over 27% say they are getting on a plane.

  • When asked to evaluate their customer service experiences on their most recent trip, the most problematic area was service in restaurants. 24.1% said they had restaurant experiences that diminished enjoyment of their trip. 
Occupancy Data for Hotels & Short Term Lodgings
Air Travel Year over Year
At Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport
Recent Travel by Month
At Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport
Q&A on June 15 Reopening Plan

The California Travel Association recently sent out a communication providing answers relating to the June 15 reopening of California. The information is especially useful for those in group business, with guidance for venue operators surrounding “Mega Events.” You can access the CalTravel newsletter here.
STR Tracking for Sonoma County
Things to Note:

  • With hotels having been closed due to the pandemic around this time last year, percentages will continue to be comparatively high in the coming weeks and months. 
  • STR is comparing “Weekly Year Over Year.”
  • 56 of the county’s 127 hotels report to STR.
  • The average from other destinations includes: Napa, Palm Springs, Monterey, South Lake Tahoe, and Vallejo/Napa Valley.
  • For more information on how data is calculated due to hotel closures, please refer to this document.
Smith Travel Research (STR) is the recognized leader in hospitality industry benchmarking around the globe. Powered by the world's largest hotel data sample, they deliver confidential data, accurate and actionable insights, and comprehensive solutions to empower decisions. Discover how STR collects data, how it is calculated, and a glossary of terms, by clicking here. 
Quick Note from the Editor
This Tourism Industry Performance & Insights communication, previously sent out weekly, is changing to a monthly release. Its companion newsletter, Tourism Industry News & Resources, is shifting to an every-other-week schedule. Partner Alerts will continue to be sent out as needed for urgent communications. Thank you.