A few short weeks after millions of travelers headed out for Thanksgiving, the Omicron variant continues to emerge as many more travelers and hoteliers plan for Christmas and New Year’s. The upcoming travel boom is worrying public health officials, and the emerging variant is complicating travel plans for some.
However, so far, the Omicron variant isn’t expected to significantly dampen holiday travel, as pandemic fatigue and confidence in vaccines remain strong, experts say.
The end of the year is typically the busiest holiday travel period of the year and data from myDigitalOffice’s MAPP Report emphasizes these trends. Over the past few weeks, occupancy and RevPAR have continued to climb heading into Christmas week.
As occupancy has continued to climb, myDigitalOffice looked at 2020 versus 2021. Occupancy levels are almost double those of 2020 despite the continued concern for the Omicron variant. As of December 20, 2021, occupancy is clocking in around 40 percent, up from 20 percent in 2020.
Industry experts say that confidence in vaccines and booster shots will keep millions traveling over the winter holidays despite uncertainty. Just beyond Christmas, myDigitalOffice is also tracking MAPP Report trends for New Year’s Eve. New Year’s statistics have also continued to climb week-over-week as well as RevPAR.
As travelers plan to head out to ring in 2022—myDigitalOffice has also seen a steady jump in occupancy year-over-year. New Year’s is currently clocking in around 45 percent occupancy, up from 20 percent in 2020.
