Fifty-eight percent more people are planning to travel by plane during the 2013 holiday season compared with last year, according to a survey conducted by The GO Group, LLC, an international ground transportation service provider.
Of the almost 100 travelers who answered the survey 57 percent said they are fly out of town to celebrate at least one holiday this year, which compares to 36 percent last year.
The survey asked travelers if they were planning an airline trip over Thanksgiving, Christmas and/or New Year’s Eve this year, and whether they did so last year.
Thirty-nine percent responded they have Thanksgiving travel plans this year, compared with 22 percent in 2012. Some 33 percent reported they will spend Christmas away from home, where just 23 percent did so last year. About the same percentage will travel for New Year’s Eve this year (13 percent), as did so in 2012 (12 percent).
So, who’s staying home? Some 57 percent of respondents said they did not travel by plane at all during the holidays last year, while only 43 percent say they have no plans to fly this year.
“A 58 percent increase is pretty significant,” says John McCarthy, president of The GO Group. “This is terrific news for the travel industry and the economy overall.”