71 Percent Of People Will Continue Social Distancing For At Least Another Six Months

Though businesses are reopening and vaccination rates are increasing, people are still cautious about certain activities like taking flights, going on cruises and attending sporting events as evidenced by Invisibly’s latest survey. Using its ‘Realtime Research’ tool to poll nearly 3,000 people, Invisibly found that 71 percent of people will continue social distancing for at least another six months.

The survey shows also that people want to experience new places but they still plan to avoid crowded areas as much as possible. As a result, the travel industry—which lost $1.1 trillion last year due to COVID-19—will have to find fresh ways to inspire travelers to get out there again and allay safety concerns.

As per Invisibly, people are more willing to travel by airplane or go on a cruise now than they were in July—58 percent vs. 33 percent and 22 percent vs. 16 percent, respectively. Still, for 59 percent of cruise-goers, it’ll be at least another six months before they consider taking one.

Nearly half (45 percent) of male respondents said they’d considering traveling via plane now compared to 34 percent of female respondents and 29 percent of those who identified as non-binary.

Yet people are less willing than before to visit crowded vacation spots (17 percent now vs. 21 percent previously) and in general want to continue avoiding crowded places altogether, reports Invisibly.

Fewer people would consider attending a large sporting event now than they did back in July, with 27 percent saying they’ll wait another six months or more to go to a sports event compared with 60 percent who would’ve waited in July. Today just 15 percent of respondents are willing to attend a sporting event. Another 52 percent said they’d consider doing so in three to six months.

According to Invisibly, 45 percent of respondents said they wouldn’t consider vacating somewhere with crowds for another one to two months compared to just 11 percent who said that 10 months ago. Additionally, 24 percent of people will wait another six months before vacationing somewhere crowded compared with 54 percent who said they’d do so last July.

Invisibly conducted a survey from March 24 to April 5, 2021 and compared the findings with an identical survey taken in July 2020.